University of Virginia Library


239

Happiness—A Picture.

A green vale, and an humble cot
Embowered in vines and spreading trees;
Before the door a verdant plot,
And flowers whose perfume loads the breeze:
Upon the grass, those flowers among,
Glad as the winds that thither stray,
A group of children, fair and young,—
Their cheeks are flush'd with play!
Midway the two small rooms between,
(For only two hath cot like this,)
Spectator of the joyous scene,
And sharer of the heart-felt bliss,
A white-haired grandam;—on her knee
Her knitting lies neglected now;
She fairly strains her eyes to see,—
Her specs pushed to her brow!
A smile upon her withered cheeks,—
On each a glistening tear-drop lies;
Her lips apart—she thoughtless speaks,
And harder strains her filmy eyes.

240

An anguish'd cry!—she quickly sprung,—
The sufferer's head was on her breast;
A bee its tiny foot had stung,
On clover-blossom prest.