THE LITTLE ONE'S PRAYER.

Waikato Argus, Volume IV, Issue 269, 2 April 1898, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE LITTLE ONE'S PRAYER.

~—©■ My daughter, go and pray—sec, night is come; One golden planet pierces through the gloom; Trembles the misty outline of the hill. Listen! the distant wheels of darkness glide— All else is hushed ; the tree by the roadside Shakes in the wind its dust-strewn branches still. Day is for evil, weariness and painLet us to prayer! calm night has come again! The wind among the ruined towers so bare, Sighs mournfully ; the herds, the flocks', the streams All suffer and complain ; worn nature seems Longing for peace, for slumber, and for prayer. It is the hour when babes with angels speak; While we are rushing to our pleasures, weak And sinful—all young children, with bent knees, Eyes raised to heaven, and small hands folded fair Say at tho self-same hour the self-same prayer, On our behalf, to Him who all things sees. And then they sleep—oh, peaceful, cradle sleep ! Oh, childhood's hallowed prayer! religion deep Of love, not fear, in happiness expressed ! So the young bird, when done its twilight lay Of praise, folds peacefully, at shut of day Its head beneath its wing, and sinks to rest. —Victor Hugo.