"Ask not why we wither here,
Thou who ne'er hast tasted woe,
Who hast never felt the tear
Of bereaved affection flow,--
"Ask not, till thy household band
By death's cruel stroke is riven,
Till some bright bird'scapes thy hand--
_Then_ thy answer will be given!"
"THREE FOR THREE."
"Giving up three for one!"--mother,
You said in the long ago,
When father, yourself, and John, mother,
I left, o'er the deep to go.
"Giving up three for one!"--mother,
You said, and it sank in my heart;
For tho' strong was my love for the one, mother,
It was hard from the three to part.
But to-day, as I sit alone, mother,
Rocking my little one's bed--
(Not Winnie's bed, dear, but her brother's--)
I am thinking of what you said;
And a sweet thought glads my heart, mother--
Can you guess what the thought can be?
'Tis, that tho' I'd but one in the start, mother,
Yet now I have _three_ for three.
Yes, three for three, my mother,
God is good to your wandering child,
So far from her father and brother,
And you, in this western wild!
And tho' her heart oftentimes yearneth
For its loved ones over the sea,
Yet ever it gratefully turneth
To its home-ties--_three_ for three.
Pages:
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121