Poems (Nora May French)/Just A Dog

by Nora May French

JUST A DOG⁴

SO many times in those dark days,
 Instinct with sudden hope he crept,
(When sad, infrequent hands would raise
 The startled notes where sound had slept)
Seeking the voice he used to hear,
 Close-crouching at his master's knees,
Hoping to find again the dear
 Familiar hand upon the keys.

In very truth there was a soul
 Behind his brown and faithful eyes.
There live some mortals, on the whole
 Less loving, tender, loyal, wise;
And though we give it to decay,
 His poor old body, worn and scarred;
Yet He who judges soul and clay
 Will give one dog his just reward.

And that would be to let him come
 Toward dim-heard music, far and sweet;
Seeking with eyes rejoiced and dumb;
 Seeking with swift, unerring feet,
With love supreme to guide him true,
 Across the misty ways of space,—
Until he found the one he knew,
 And looked into his master's face.