The Home Circle

Southern Cross, Volume 2, Issue 29, 13 October 1894, Page 11

The Home Circle

[Conducted bt LINDA.] NOW I LAY MB DOWN TO SLEEP.

The fire upon ihe hearth is low, And there is stillness everywhere; Like troubled spirits, here and there The firelight shadows fluttering go, And as the shadows round me creep, A childish treble breaks the gloom, And softly from the further room Comes, “JNow I Uy me down to sleep. And, somehow, with that little prayer And that sweet treble in my ears. My thought goes back to distant years And hungers with a dear one there ; And, as I hear the cnild’s amen, My mother’s faith comes back to me, Crouched at her side 1 seem to be, And mother holds my hands again. Oh, for an hour in that dear place ! Oh, for the peace of that dear time ! Oh, for that childish trust sublime! Oh, for a glimpse of mother’s face ? Yet, as the shadows round me creep, I do not seem to be alone — Sweet magic of that treble tone And “ Now 1 lay me down to sleep.” Eugene Field.