Poetry. The Bottom Drawer.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1857, 31 May 1884, Page 5

Poetry. The Bottom Drawer.

Two little shoes and a look of hair, Tho latter as blight as the sun, A glove so small, suio fairy ne'er Wore near so tiny a one ; A tiny rattle, and last of all, A frock as white as the snow, Are lying together, all in a heap, Under the lamp-light's glow. They were found just now in the bottom drawer Of a bureau old and worn, And they brought the blood in a surging stream To the heart of a mother forlorn. For never a'*aifl shall a tiny hand Be warmed by this tiny glove, And never again shall a baby's kiss Make sweeter a mother's love. The little white frock shall be worn no more, For tho fashion has changed of late - She wears the garment as white as snow, That is worn in the angel state. And the iittle shoes, all worn and frayed, Whose p.ilter was music swoet To the mother ear, n<^ Jonger shall sound To the step of the baby's feet. For under a mound all covered with -white, A mound scarce two feet long, Is the body of one who was all too weak For a world so fierce and strong, And there my baby is testing sweet, While I sit idly here. With a frock, a cattle, a pair of shoes, And the mothei'ti blinding tear. But by-and-by, when I, too, rest. In the churchyard old and drear, My spirit will climb to the glittering stars, Afar from the ache and tear ; And there in the golden gracious light Of eternity's breaking day, I will clasp my babe to the mother-heart, For ever and for aye. l. j. b.