 | Evensong |  |
41
THE CALL
At night when I lie fast asleep
A little voice cries at my ear:
Quick—‘Mother! Mother!’ and I leap
Out of my dreams and wild with fear.
A little voice cries at my ear:
Quick—‘Mother! Mother!’ and I leap
Out of my dreams and wild with fear.
Whether 'tis you, dear Heart's Delight,
Sleeping some few small rooms away,
Calls to me in the lonely night
I cannot think, I cannot say.
Sleeping some few small rooms away,
Calls to me in the lonely night
I cannot think, I cannot say.
Or if it be a boy's quick call
From East or West in some sore need:
Dear angels, guard the outer wall
Lest that my prayers have little speed.
From East or West in some sore need:
Dear angels, guard the outer wall
Lest that my prayers have little speed.
Or if the dead have need of me,
The piteous babes that lie alone,
That only oped an eye to see
Into the world ere they were flown.
The piteous babes that lie alone,
That only oped an eye to see
Into the world ere they were flown.
I know not: only this I know,
The quick call would have power to wake
Me in the grave and bid me go
Running for some scared darling's sake.
The quick call would have power to wake
Me in the grave and bid me go
Running for some scared darling's sake.
| Evensong | |