"HARDLY A PEAR OR A PANG HAVE THEY."

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 5, Issue 1448, 4 August 1883, Page 4

"HARDLY A PEAR OR A PANG HAVE THEY."

#__— It was in tho month of March ' That the Angel of Death came by, J And ho rustled bis wings'of darkness As he swept through/the dreary.sky. A household of happy 'creatures ■'{■■■■ Dwelt quiet,; n, I'rco from cave, And the Angel stole in softly,.'. And stood all silent there:. But the children laughed and sang at their play; Never a fear nor a pang had they. And tho Angel swiftly, in silence, Struck home the mortal blow, And in the cheerless movning He laid the father low. And wildly the sorrowful mother, Bewildered'and stunned with woe, Wailed in her lone bereavement, And wished that sho might go: But the children laughed and sang at thoir play; Never a fear mr a pang had they. Cold in the lonely chamber, Lay the father's form at rest; And thoy laidthedelicate flower-wreath Upon his quiet breast, And forth from his home they bore him, And hid him from sound and sight; And thoy heaped the cold earth above him, ■' While the children's feet trod light; But the boys went home to their happy play, New a fear nw a pang had they. And often the childish footsteps Are turned to thoir father's grave, Where the grass, with its glistoning hoar-frost, Lies over that heart so bravo; And somotimes they watch theirmother Bending in sorrow and pain, And say in their childish voices—- " Will dada not come again f But soon they laugh and sing at their play; Never a fear mr a fang have thy, So God in His infinite pity. Shuts the eyes ol children dear, And they see not the fell Destroyer, Though their eyes are so bright and clear. And I said, " There's no past for the children With its terrible pangs and stings; And for them no brooding future, Spreadeth its threatening'wings, All they see is the present—to-day, And so they laugh and sing at their play." Yeuum, E. E. Masterton, 1883.