Poems (Dorr)/Yesterday and To-day
YESTERDAY AND TO-DAY
But yesterday among us here,One with ourselves in hope and fear:Joying like us in little things,The sheen of gorgeous insect wings,The song of bird, the hum of bee,The white foam of the heaving sea.
But yesterday your simplest speech,Your lightest breath, our hearts could reach;Your very thoughts were ours. Our eyesFound in your own no mysteries.Your griefs, your joys, your prayers, we knew,The hopes that with your girlhood grew.
But yesterday we dared to say,"'Twere better you should walk this wayOr that, dear child! Do thus or so;Older and wiser we, you know."We gave you flowers and curled your hair,And brought new robes for you to wear.
To-day how far away thou art!In all thy life we have no part.Hast thou a want? We know it not;Utterly parted from our lot,The veriest stranger is to theeAll those who loved thee best can be.
Deaf to our calls, our prayers, our cries,Thou dost not lift thy heavy eyes;Nor heed the tender words that flowFrom lips whose kisses thrilled thee soBut yesterday! To-day in vainWe wait for kisses back again.
To-day no awful mystery hidThe dark and mazy past amidIs half so great as this that liesBeneath the lids of thy shut eyes,And in those frozen lips of stone,Impassive lips, that smile nor moan.
But yesterday with loving careWe petted, praised thee, called thee fair;To-day, oppressed with awe, we standBefore that ring-unfettered hand,And scarcely dare to lift one tressIn mute and reverent caress.
But yesterday with us. To-dayWhere thou art dwelling, who can say?In heaven? But where? Oh for some spellTo make thy tongue this secret tell!To break the silence strange and deep,That thy sealed lips so closely keep!