Poems (Curwen)/Her Jewel

by Annie Isabel Curwen

Her Jewel.

"What jewel have you hidden there?"
 "Open the case and you will see!"
A little tress of shining hair
 Is all that is revealed to me.

A little tress of silken hair
 I see upon the velvet bed.
Once in the "long ago" it grew
 Upon a little golden head.

He was his mother's only child—
 A lovely boy just three years old,
With winsome face, and eyes of blue,
 And hair of shining gold.

But one sad hour he stole away,
 And to the water side he tripped;
No hand was near to save the boy,
 And o'er the edge he slipped.

The cruel waters closed around
 The dainty limbs and cherub face,
And when the little form was found,
 Death held it in a close embrace.

I close the case with reverent touch.
 Earth has its jewels rich and rare,
But worthless, when compared to this,
 This priceless tress of golden hair.