 | Poems and verses by Mary Mapes Dodge |  |
176
THE FOOT-PRINT IN THE SNOW.
Heavy and white the cold snow lay,
As, nearing my cottage one winter day,
I saw by the porch a foot-print small,
A bare little foot-print, toes and all,
Pressed—ah, so wearily!—into the snow,
As if the wee step had been jaded and slow.
“Poor little homeless waif!” I thought;
But the fleeting sympathy came to naught—
For pity may fall from a heart that 's gay
As lightly as snow-flakes melting away;
And soon would be greeting me, strong in their charms,
Bright little faces and warm little arms.
As, nearing my cottage one winter day,
I saw by the porch a foot-print small,
A bare little foot-print, toes and all,
Pressed—ah, so wearily!—into the snow,
As if the wee step had been jaded and slow.
“Poor little homeless waif!” I thought;
But the fleeting sympathy came to naught—
For pity may fall from a heart that 's gay
As lightly as snow-flakes melting away;
And soon would be greeting me, strong in their charms,
Bright little faces and warm little arms.
Closing the door, in a joyous glow,
I chided the children for crowding me so—
The glad little witches! as sunny and blessed
As ever a home-coming mother caressed.
Then I caught up the youngest, unnoticed before,
My sweet little Mabel, who sat on the floor.
“Why, my darling! What is it?” I cried, in surprise;
“Barefooted!” The little one lifted her eyes;
They were brimming with tears, and her cheek, too, was wet—
“Oh, my feet hurt me so!” “What has harmed them, my pet?”
“Why, just to see how it felt, you know,
I stood with my shoes off out there in the snow.”
I chided the children for crowding me so—
The glad little witches! as sunny and blessed
As ever a home-coming mother caressed.
Then I caught up the youngest, unnoticed before,
My sweet little Mabel, who sat on the floor.
177
“Barefooted!” The little one lifted her eyes;
They were brimming with tears, and her cheek, too, was wet—
“Oh, my feet hurt me so!” “What has harmed them, my pet?”
“Why, just to see how it felt, you know,
I stood with my shoes off out there in the snow.”
That was all. But while fondling and making them warm—
The dear little feet that had tempted the storm—
And putting on soft little stocking and shoe,
A feeling of sudden remorse pierced me through.
That lingering foot-print! How soon I forgot
When I thought 't was a beggar-child passed by my cot!
O pale-blossomed pity that never bore fruit!—
I will pluck it away from my heart, branch and root.
Love teaches at last. Now their meaning I know—
The bare little foot-prints we see in the snow.
The dear little feet that had tempted the storm—
And putting on soft little stocking and shoe,
A feeling of sudden remorse pierced me through.
That lingering foot-print! How soon I forgot
When I thought 't was a beggar-child passed by my cot!
O pale-blossomed pity that never bore fruit!—
I will pluck it away from my heart, branch and root.
Love teaches at last. Now their meaning I know—
The bare little foot-prints we see in the snow.
| Poems and verses by Mary Mapes Dodge | |