Poems (Hoffman)/Baby May

by Martha Lavinia Hoffman

BABY MAY

I cannot mourn for you to-day
 Amid life's dizzy whirl,
I miss you since you went away
And yet I cannot truly say
That I would wish you back to-day,
 Dear little angel girl!

I cannot sigh for you, or weep,
 It may seem strange and wrong,
But woman's path at best is steep
Its troubled waters dark and deep
And oh, so tranquil is thy sleep,
 So tranquil and so long!

Sometimes I half rejoice to know
 Thy little weary feet
Shall never stumble tired and slow
Up life's hard road of sin and woe
But evermore rejoicing go
 Along the golden street;

And then sometimes a magic book
 Seems opened to my eyes
Where on fair scenes I long may look,
Where smiles thy face from flowery nook
Or calm as when thy spirit took
 Its journey to the skies.