Poems (E. L. F.)/To nora
T0 NORA,
ON HER THIRD BIRTH-DAY, JUNE 21
Nora, my heart's darling! This is thy natal day,And three short years of thy young life Have briefly passed away.May a mother's blessing linger Ever round thee, Nora, dear!Though it save thee not from sorrow, It may wile away a tear.
Thou'rt the child of early promise, Of many hopes and fears;May thy joyous-hearted gladness Bear thee on through upward years. There is grace in every motion, And the health-bloom on thy cheekTells of many a bright emotion That thy lip can hardly speak.
There is an infant beauty In thy carelessness and glee;For what is all the Future, If the Present's joy to thee?Oh! may thy young heart's promise Be as bright as it looks now,And cast no after-shadow On thy pure and sunny brow.
May each year that makes thee older, Make thee wiser than the last,For happier thou canst hardly be Than in thy young morning past.Adieu, my darling Nora, Till again thy mother singThe brightness of her summer flower In its sweet and early spring.