JUST LIKE ME.
47
“Just like me.” Forbid, God!
She should ever look back over pathways trod,
As I have done, and see through tears,
The shattered hopes and dreams of years.
Grant that her lips may never quaff,
As mine have done, Pain’s bitter draught.
Father! I pray, may it so Thee please
That all resemblance between us cease,
And her life no more be likened to mine
When once she has crossed the boundary line
That divides the battle-field of Life
From the gardens with childish pleasures rife.
“Just like me.” Forbid, God
That her feet should tread where mine have trod.
Then smiling down in the clear, brown eyes
That have watched my emotion with grave surprise,
I clasp her close as I pray that she
May never grow up to be “just like me.”
