Littell's Living Age/Volume 170/Issue 2201/To my Mother
I left thee once in mad desire to find
The love for which my spirit yearned with pain;
At many a door I knocked and knocked in vain,
Craving love's alms which none to grant inclined,
But laughing, treated me with cold disdain;
Yet still I wandered, eager in the quest,
Forever seeking, and for aye unblest,
Since no one gave the boon for which I pined.
Then, mother! turning to my home I went
With weary steps and sorrow-numbing care,
And lo! my pain was lost in sweet content,
For what I sought came to me unaware;
In the dear eyes that on thy son were bent
All I had asked I found, for love was there.