Poems (Charlotte Allen)/To a Little Girl

by Charlotte Allen

TO A LITTLE GIRL.

I love to gaze upon thy face,
For there in loveliness I trace,
 The impress of thy mind;
And in thy witching smile I see,
A buoyant spirit, light and free,
 Unfettered as the wind.

Thy swelling soul is full of love,
Deep springing from the fount above,
 Whence purest feelings flow;
And gilding with a hallowed beam,
The saddened page of life's dull stream,
 That all must taste below.

Oh, may thy heart, so formed to bless,
E'er meet the fond and warm caress
 Of sweet confiding love;
And may thy swiftly fleeting hours,
Be ever marked with choicest flowers,
 Till called to realms above.

And when thy journey here is past,
And death's stern mission comes at last,
 To take thee from the earth,
Oh, may'st thou reach that unknown shore,
Those blessed regions to explore,
 That home of thy spirit's birth.