Poems (Odom)/Little Children
LITTLE CHILDREN.
God bless the little children, The little boys and girls,With rosy cheeks and laughing eyes, And floating, sunny curls.
The pretty roguish dimples A smile will bring about;And lips like parted rosebuds, Or folded in a pout.
Dear, loving little children, With hearts as pure as dew,With honest eyes that look in ours, So fearless, bright, and true.
Our lives are nobler, better, Brightened by these human flowers,And we hold them so much dearer, For these little lives of ours.
A simple child may lead us To the heights of faith sublime;Or a baby's dimpled fingers Draw a man away from crime.
A mother's soul is purer For the soul her own has borne,And her breast a sacred altar For the jewel it has worn.
And when we lay our darlings Down to sleep beneath the sod;The little folded fingers clasp Us closer to our God.
Then we turn all sorrow-stricken From this weary world of sinTo follow up the stairway Where those little feet have been.
They make life fairer, sweeter, With their innocence and love;They sanctify "God's Acre," And they gem His court above.
We welcome little children To our hearts with bended knees,Thanking God that He should trust us With the care of such as these.