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.
And ever o'er them, with such tender loveAs only Heaven in all its peace can giveA beauteous angel bends, with stories sweet,Of Christ, who died that every soul might live,And then upon her bosom, one by oneShe bears these spotless little ones to earth,And lays them in the loving mother's armsTo 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 trueAnd 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 homeThe sun shines bright and never sinks to rest,"In Heaven there is no night," so One has saidWho 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 fairBloom 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 onesTo cheer the sorrow of this desert place,For "Here we see but darkly," Ethel dear,But there, oh blessed promise, face to face.