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182
THE LITTLE FLOWER-GARDEN.
In yon old village burying-place,
With briers and weeds o'ergrown,
I saw a child with beauteous face
Sit musing all alone.
With briers and weeds o'ergrown,
I saw a child with beauteous face
Sit musing all alone.
Without a shoe,—without a hat,—
Beside a new-raised mound,
The little Willie pensive sat,
As if to guard the ground.
Beside a new-raised mound,
The little Willie pensive sat,
As if to guard the ground.
I asked him why he lingered thus,
Within that gray old wall.
“Because,” said he, “it is to us
The dearest place of all.”
Within that gray old wall.
“Because,” said he, “it is to us
The dearest place of all.”
“And what,” I asked, “to one so young,
Can make the place so dear?”
“Our mother!”—said the lisping tongue,—
“They laid our mother here.
Can make the place so dear?”
“Our mother!”—said the lisping tongue,—
“They laid our mother here.
“And since they made it mother's lot,
We like to call it ours;—
We took it for our garden-spot,
And planted it with flowers.
We like to call it ours;—
We took it for our garden-spot,
And planted it with flowers.
“We know 't was here that she was laid;
And yet they tell us, too,
She 's now a happy angel, made
To live where angels do.
And yet they tell us, too,
She 's now a happy angel, made
To live where angels do.
183
“Then will she watch us from above,
And smile on us, to know
That here her little children love
To make sweet flowerets grow.
And smile on us, to know
That here her little children love
To make sweet flowerets grow.
“My sister Anna's gone, to take
Her supper; and will come,
With quickest haste that she can make,
To let me run for some.
Her supper; and will come,
With quickest haste that she can make,
To let me run for some.
“We do not leave the spot alone,
For fear the birds will spy
The places where the seeds are sown,
And catch them up, and fly!
For fear the birds will spy
The places where the seeds are sown,
And catch them up, and fly!
“We love to have them come, and feed,
And flit, and sing about;
Yet not where we have dropped the seed,
To find and pick it out.
And flit, and sing about;
Yet not where we have dropped the seed,
To find and pick it out.
“But now, the great, round, yellow sun
Is going down the west;
And soon the birds will, every one,
Be home, and in the nest.
Is going down the west;
And soon the birds will, every one,
Be home, and in the nest.
“Then we to rest shall go home, too;
And while we 're fast asleep,
Amid the darkness and the dew,
Perhaps the sprouts will peep!
And while we 're fast asleep,
Amid the darkness and the dew,
Perhaps the sprouts will peep!
“And when our plants have grown so high,
That leaves are on the stem,
We'll call the pretty birdies nigh,
And scatter crumbs for them.
That leaves are on the stem,
We'll call the pretty birdies nigh,
And scatter crumbs for them.
184
“For mother loved their songs to hear,—
To watch them on the wing:
She'll love to know they still come near
Her little ones, and sing.
To watch them on the wing:
She'll love to know they still come near
Her little ones, and sing.
“I don't know where 's her dwelling-place;
But here she daily seems
To meet me, as, with smiling face,
She kissed me, in my dreams.
But here she daily seems
To meet me, as, with smiling face,
She kissed me, in my dreams.
“May not she be the angel, sent
A daily watch to keep,
And, fondly o'er our pillows bent,
To guard us while we sleep?”
A daily watch to keep,
And, fondly o'er our pillows bent,
To guard us while we sleep?”
“Heaven guard thee, precious child!” methought,
“And ‘sister Anna’ too;
And may your future days be fraught
With blessings ever new!”
“And ‘sister Anna’ too;
And may your future days be fraught
With blessings ever new!”
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