Lyrics of the heart With other poems. By Alaric A. Watts. With forty-one engravings on steel |
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TO A SLEEPING CHILD. |
 | Lyrics of the heart |  |
198
TO A SLEEPING CHILD.
My fair-haired boy! as thus I gaze
Upon thy calm, untroubled sleep,
I feel the hopes of other days,—
The cherished hopes for words too deep,—
Unfold within my heart again,
Like flowers refreshed by summer rain!
Upon thy calm, untroubled sleep,
I feel the hopes of other days,—
The cherished hopes for words too deep,—
Unfold within my heart again,
Like flowers refreshed by summer rain!
The brightness of thy dark blue eye
Still peers its half-closed lids between,
Like glimpses of an April sky
Through clouds of snowy whiteness seen;
And dimpling smiles are lingering now
Round thy sweet mouth, and sunny brow!
Still peers its half-closed lids between,
Like glimpses of an April sky
Through clouds of snowy whiteness seen;
And dimpling smiles are lingering now
Round thy sweet mouth, and sunny brow!
The spirit of some gentle dream
Hath kindled, sure, thy glowing cheek,
And lent that half-shut eye the beam
Which seems in furtive light to speak
Of tameless glee, of antics wild,
Of ‘nods and becks,’ my sinless child!
Hath kindled, sure, thy glowing cheek,
And lent that half-shut eye the beam
Which seems in furtive light to speak
Of tameless glee, of antics wild,
Of ‘nods and becks,’ my sinless child!
199
October's winds are chill and drear,
And howl our cottage home around,
Whilst emblems of the waning year
In ceaseless eddies strew the ground:
I gaze upon the leafless tree,
And deem it but a type of me.
And howl our cottage home around,
Whilst emblems of the waning year
In ceaseless eddies strew the ground:
I gaze upon the leafless tree,
And deem it but a type of me.
But when I turn from Nature's waste,
From thoughts those saddening sights can bring,
And look on thee, I seem to taste
The freshness of a second spring;
And feelings, long repressed, arise,
That whisper hopes of brighter skies.
From thoughts those saddening sights can bring,
And look on thee, I seem to taste
The freshness of a second spring;
And feelings, long repressed, arise,
That whisper hopes of brighter skies.
Oh, did not anxious cares alloy
My bliss with thoughts of future ill,
Now might I taste of perfect joy,
My heart with sweetest rapture thrill,
As thus, with yearnings fond and deep,
I watch my guileless infant sleep!
My bliss with thoughts of future ill,
Now might I taste of perfect joy,
My heart with sweetest rapture thrill,
As thus, with yearnings fond and deep,
I watch my guileless infant sleep!
But bodings full of fear will throng,
Unbidden, on my feverish brain;
And thoughts of sickness, blight, and wrong,
Come back upon my heart again:
And, sitting by thy side, I grieve
O'er dreams I cannot choose but weave.
Unbidden, on my feverish brain;
And thoughts of sickness, blight, and wrong,
Come back upon my heart again:
And, sitting by thy side, I grieve
O'er dreams I cannot choose but weave.
200
I turn me to the past, and mourn
That what has been again may be;
I weep, lest ills that I have borne
Should be in store, my child, for thee;—
To warp thy truth, to cloud thy brow,
And make thee all that I am now:
That what has been again may be;
I weep, lest ills that I have borne
Should be in store, my child, for thee;—
To warp thy truth, to cloud thy brow,
And make thee all that I am now:
The slave of anguish that has taught
My harp the echo of my heart,—
Of hopes, with bright enchantment fraught,
To stir my soul and then depart,—
Of gentle thoughts, inspired to bless,
All turned to tenfold bitterness;—
My harp the echo of my heart,—
Of hopes, with bright enchantment fraught,
To stir my soul and then depart,—
Of gentle thoughts, inspired to bless,
All turned to tenfold bitterness;—
Of waning health, a wasted frame,
Worn by the racking strife within;
Of pride not even grief may tame,
That weighs upon my heart like sin;
Of glowing visions of delight
Dimmed by their own excess of light:
Worn by the racking strife within;
Of pride not even grief may tame,
That weighs upon my heart like sin;
Of glowing visions of delight
Dimmed by their own excess of light:
The dupe of every sordid fool,
With just enough of sense to cheat
A simple novice in the school
Where souls grow learned in deceit;
The victim of man's selfish schemes,
For deeming him the thing he seems!
With just enough of sense to cheat
A simple novice in the school
Where souls grow learned in deceit;
The victim of man's selfish schemes,
For deeming him the thing he seems!
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Till every finer feeling sered,
Each kindlier impulse rudely checked,—
Hopes to my trusting youth endeared,
Crushed by unkindness or neglect;
I look around with altered eye,
And deem the world all treachery!
Each kindlier impulse rudely checked,—
Hopes to my trusting youth endeared,
Crushed by unkindness or neglect;
I look around with altered eye,
And deem the world all treachery!
Yet it shall have my blessing still,
And I will worship its decree,
Will bend unmurmuring to its will,
Nay, court its frowns and contumely,
So every wrong it heaps on me
May win its smile, my babe, for thee.
And I will worship its decree,
Will bend unmurmuring to its will,
Nay, court its frowns and contumely,
So every wrong it heaps on me
May win its smile, my babe, for thee.
But, lo! those merry eyes unclose,
And dart their thousand meanings round,—
Thy cheek with fresher crimson glows,
Thy brow with sunnier light is crowned,
As, bursting slumber's silken chain,
Thou bid'st past hopes revive again.
And dart their thousand meanings round,—
Thy cheek with fresher crimson glows,
Thy brow with sunnier light is crowned,
As, bursting slumber's silken chain,
Thou bid'st past hopes revive again.
Thus do thou, ever thus, when Care
Flings her dark shadows o'er my way,
And hopes, as perishing as fair,
Like withered leaves have dropped away,
Shed light upon my heart and brow,—
To rapture turn my tears as now!
Flings her dark shadows o'er my way,
And hopes, as perishing as fair,
Like withered leaves have dropped away,
Shed light upon my heart and brow,—
To rapture turn my tears as now!
| Lyrics of the heart | |