Poems (Charlotte Allen)/To a Little Boy
TO A LITTLE BOY.
Sweet little child, with thy laughing eyes; And lofty brow so fair,In thy tiny form a treasure lies, That 's well deserving care.It is that magic thing, called mind, In embryo now in thee;A few years hence, we 'll surely find, A valued gem 't will be.
And may thy heart full well repay Thy parent's anxious toil;For they will guide thee day by day, And plant thy mental soil. For as thy infant years pass by, Then childhood follows fast;And youth then hastens recklessly; Stern manhood comes at last,—
And hurries down the rapid stream Of Time, thy fragile form;But may no clouds e'er intervene, To chill thy feelings warm.May all thy days on earth be blest With Heaven's protecting power;May virtue dwell within thy breast, Religion be a flower—
A never-fading flower to live In thy expanding soul;Its heavenly influence to give A charm throughout the whole.And when thy little accents mild, Pours forth the fervent prayer,That God would keep a little child In his Almighty care:—
Pray, Albert, for thy parents too, And humbly bend the knee;Pray that their ills in life be few, For they have prayed for thee.