Poems (Follen)/On Greenough's Group of the Child and the Angel

by Eliza Lee Cabot Follen

ON GREENOUGH'S GROUP OF THE CHILD AND ANGEL.

Child. Whither, tell me, dost thou go?^[1]
Angel. "Come up hither! I will show thee;
    Follow me, and thou shalt know:
     Leave the dark, sad earth below thee."

Child. Stop! my eyes cannot sustain
     Such a wondrous flood of light.
Angel."Come up hither; thou shalt gain,
     As thou risest, stronger sight."

Child. Lost in wonder without end,
     Joyful, fearful, longing, shrinking—
    Lead me, O thou heavenly friend;
     Keep a trembling child from sinking.

    O, I cannot bear this glory:
     Angel brother, how canst thou?
Angel. "I will tell thee all my story:
     I was once what thou art now."

Child. When some sorrow did befall me,
     Or I felt some strange alarms,
    Then my mother's voice would call me
     To the shelter of her arms.

    Now what bids my heart rejoice?
     Clasped in arms I cannot see:
    Hark! I hear a gentle voice
     Softly whisper, "Come to me!"

Angel. "Yes, it calls thee from above:
     Come to God's most holy mountain!
    Thou hast drank the stream of love;
     I will bring thee to the fountain."

1. "Quæ nunc abibis in loca" is the inscription on the pedestal of the group.