TWO MOTHERS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 2064, 15 February 1889, Page 3

TWO MOTHERS

On either side a window That opened to the west, They guarded eaoh her treasure, A cradle and a nest. And always when at evening Sank down the Summer sun, Four little heads were m the nest, And m the cradle one. Without, the feathered mother Kept faithful watch and ward ; Within, the human mother watched ; Above them watohed the Lord. And sitting there m silence, Unbroken by a word, There grew to be a bond between The woman and the bird. So that when each had cradled Her offspring for the night, She looked to see that all within j Tbe other home was right. Then came a time of storm without, A time of grief within ; The chair stood vaoant, bare the twig There onoe the bird had been. And when onoe more the window Stood open to the west, A Baddened human face looked out Upon a shattered neßt. Ah, strange the link that bound*them, Even m grief so great I ' Poor little friend 1 the woman cried, • Are both homes desolate ? | While, perched unseen above her, - Upon a woodbine spray, - The small brown bird Bat mourning Whom she thought far away. And, eeeing but the empty crib, And mother all alone, She only chirped, ' Poor thing, poor thing, Her little one has flown.' The sun sank down ; forsaken Hung either little bed ; The human guardian was gone, The sentry bird had fled. [ Yet still the Lord kept watoh above, To give his ohildren rest ; His love was o'er the empty crib And o'er the empty nest. Gasoline Leslie Field.