Part 40 (1/2)
When the lessons and tasks are ended, And the school for the day is dismissed, And the little ones gather around me To bid me ”good-night” and be kissed; Oh, the little white arms that encircle My neck in a tender embrace!
Oh, the smiles that are halos of heaven, Shedding suns.h.i.+ne and love on my face!
And when they are gone I sit dreaming Of my childhood too lovely to last; Of love, that my heart will remember When it wakes to the pulse of the past.
Ere the world and its wickedness made me A partner of sorrow and sin, When the glory of G.o.d was about me, And the glory of gladness within.
Oh, my heart grows weak as a woman's, And the fountain of feelings will flow, When I think of the paths steep and stony Where the feet of the dear ones must go; Of the mountains of sin hanging o'er them, Of the tempests of fate blowing wild; Oh, there's nothing on earth half so holy As the innocent heart of a child.
They are idols of hearts and of households, They are angels of G.o.d in disguise, His sunlight still sleeps in their tresses, His glory still beams in their eyes; Oh, those truants from earth and from heaven, They have made me more manly and mild, And I know how Jesus could liken The kingdom of G.o.d to a child.
Seek not a life for the dear ones All radiant, as others have done, But that life may have just as much shadow To temper the glare of the sun; I would pray G.o.d to guard them from evil, But my prayer would bound back to myself; Ah, a seraph may pray for a sinner, But a sinner must pray for himself.
The twig is so easily bended, I have banished the rule and the rod; I have taught them the goodness of knowledge, They have taught me the goodness of G.o.d.
My heart is a dungeon of darkness, Where I shut them from breaking a rule; My frown is sufficient correction, My love is the law of the school.
I shall leave the old house in the autumn, To traverse its threshold no more-- Ah, how I shall sigh for the dear ones That meet me each morn at the door.
I shall miss the good-nights and the kisses, And the gush of their innocent glee, The group on the green and the flowers That are brought every morning to me.
I shall miss them at morn and eve, Their songs in the school and the street, Shall miss the low hum of their voices, And the tramp of their delicate feet.
When lessons and tasks are all ended, And death says the school is dismissed, May the little ones gather around me To bid me ”good-night” and be kissed.
FOOTNOTES:
[2] Found in the desk of Charles d.i.c.kens after his death.
CHARITY.
When you meet with one suspected Of some secret deed of shame, And for this by all rejected As a thing of evil fame, Guard thine every look and action, Speak no word of heartless blame, For the slanderer's vile detraction Yet may soil thy goodly name.
When you meet with one pursuing Ways the lost have entered in, Working out his own undoing With his recklessness and sin; Think, if placed in his condition, Would a kind word be in vain, Or a look of cold suspicion Win thee back to truth again?
There are spots that bear no flowers, Not because the soil is bad, But the Summer's genial showers Never made their bosoms glad.
Better have an act that's kindly Treated sometimes with disdain, Than, in judging others blindly, Doom the innocent to pain.
NO OBJECTION TO CHILDREN.
It was a block of yellow-brown houses in South Boston, looking as much like a sheet of gingerbread as anything.
An express-wagon had just backed up to No. 21 in that block, and the driver, unloosing ropes here and there, proceeded to unpack the luggage.
”What have we here?” exclaimed Mrs. Bacon, the downstairs tenant. ”A menagerie, I do believe. Come here, John.”
There was, indeed, on the very top of the load a gray horse that in the twilight looked very real till one noticed the rockers on which it stood.