Poems (E. L. F.)/On an infant's death
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ON AN INFANT'S DEATH.
A year has passed, and thou, my child,
Art numbered with the early dead;
No power of grief, nor anguish wild,
Can raise thee from thy lone cold bed.
Art numbered with the early dead;
No power of grief, nor anguish wild,
Can raise thee from thy lone cold bed.
Oh! blest is memory's holy power:
In dreams I clasp my baby boy.
Yes, thou art with me every hour,
My bosom's lost though treasured joy.
In dreams I clasp my baby boy.
Yes, thou art with me every hour,
My bosom's lost though treasured joy.
I see thee in thy infant grace,
Smiling in beauty, soft and mild;
And is the sunshine of thy face
For ever shadowed?—oh, my child!
Smiling in beauty, soft and mild;
And is the sunshine of thy face
For ever shadowed?—oh, my child!
First gem of love's all-dazzling power—
First bud of beauty, blossom fair!
First hope of every brighter hour,
Thou'rt gone; and what is mine *—despair.
First bud of beauty, blossom fair!
First hope of every brighter hour,
Thou'rt gone; and what is mine *—despair.
A few short months of bliss were mine,
To die in one soul-crushing day;
In silent grief we stood amazed—
Heart-broken gasped, Is this decay?
To die in one soul-crushing day;
In silent grief we stood amazed—
Heart-broken gasped, Is this decay?
So softly sleeping seemed my babe,
Life's bloom scarce brushed from off his brow;
I pressed the pale cold cheek, and felt
That death could deal no deadlier blow.
Life's bloom scarce brushed from off his brow;
I pressed the pale cold cheek, and felt
That death could deal no deadlier blow.
No words can paint that hour of grief;
Feelings too deep for tears may tell
How Time, that brings all else relief,
Bears with it but a darkened spell.
Feelings too deep for tears may tell
How Time, that brings all else relief,
Bears with it but a darkened spell.
Nor would I even hush my sorrow:
Treasured memories still live on,
And holy day-dreams of a morrow,
When I shall re-clasp mine own.
Treasured memories still live on,
And holy day-dreams of a morrow,
When I shall re-clasp mine own.