Poems (Barker)/To Ethel
To Ethel.
Long years ago I heard a story sweet,
A legend of the angels, so it seemed.
And where I caught it, is a mystery,
May hap I read it and may hap I dreamed;
The story ran like this, that in that land,
Where neither sickness comes, nor grief, nor tears,
There is a lovely place for little ones,
Who erst must try life's sorrows, and its fears.
A legend of the angels, so it seemed.
And where I caught it, is a mystery,
May hap I read it and may hap I dreamed;
The story ran like this, that in that land,
Where neither sickness comes, nor grief, nor tears,
There is a lovely place for little ones,
Who erst must try life's sorrows, and its fears.
And ever o'er them, with such tender love
As only Heaven in all its peace can give
A beauteous angel bends, with stories sweet,
Of Christ, who died that every soul might live,
And then upon her bosom, one by one
She bears these spotless little ones to earth,
And lays them in the loving mother's arms
To be a blessing to the home and hearth.
As only Heaven in all its peace can give
A beauteous angel bends, with stories sweet,
Of Christ, who died that every soul might live,
And then upon her bosom, one by one
She bears these spotless little ones to earth,
And lays them in the loving mother's arms
To be a blessing to the home and hearth.
Dear little Ethel with your azure eyes,
Your flaxen curls upon your shoulders tossed,
It is not hard to think the legend true
And that the line, your little feet have crossed.
That once you lay upon the angels breast,
And heard the music of the unseen throng,
No wonder that your little heart is tuned,
To sweetest harmony of joyous song.
Your flaxen curls upon your shoulders tossed,
It is not hard to think the legend true
And that the line, your little feet have crossed.
That once you lay upon the angels breast,
And heard the music of the unseen throng,
No wonder that your little heart is tuned,
To sweetest harmony of joyous song.
No wonder that within your happy home
The sun shines bright and never sinks to rest,
"In Heaven there is no night," so One has said
Who called the weary to His sinless breast.
Dear little Ethel with your radient face,
May every blessing fall upon your head,
May roses with their fragrance, lillies fair
Bloom all about the way your feet must tread.
The sun shines bright and never sinks to rest,
"In Heaven there is no night," so One has said
Who called the weary to His sinless breast.
Dear little Ethel with your radient face,
May every blessing fall upon your head,
May roses with their fragrance, lillies fair
Bloom all about the way your feet must tread.
I cannot ask a brighter lot for you,
For angels hold you in their special care;
And you are lifted from the sin of earth,
Upon the wings of a fond mother's prayer.
And "God is good," who sends such lovely ones
To cheer the sorrow of this desert place,
For "Here we see but darkly," Ethel dear,
But there, oh blessed promise, face to face.
For angels hold you in their special care;
And you are lifted from the sin of earth,
Upon the wings of a fond mother's prayer.
And "God is good," who sends such lovely ones
To cheer the sorrow of this desert place,
For "Here we see but darkly," Ethel dear,
But there, oh blessed promise, face to face.