When Will Mammy Come? A Poem for Recitation.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2051, 29 August 1885, Page 6 (Supplement)

When Will Mammy Come? A Poem for Recitation.

Twai jait at evening, at the office, that they' earn* te me, aid said, With kindly werdi. the i«f • te soften, that ny darliflf wife wa« dead 1 Bht I'd loft that very morning, with the lovolight ia her eye, Who'd kitted me o'er the garden gate, and waved htr hand, te lay, " Gted-»ye 1" Withla that lately fcapty home now cold and ■Hut reittd there 1 Oh, Qoi! It itemed a horrid dream 1 A dream too cruel, too hard t« bear I I itagiertd whea the aewi wai brought, and felt aa itraek by peiioa'd dart ; A deiert drear my life appeared ; a piece of ■res* my broken heart. lai th«a I theaght apon cur child, and •hoktd deipair for hia d«ar lake ; Aa< weat ap te my dreary home, while ■welled my heart ai if 'tweald broak. Along the pathway from the home two little feet tame toddling dowa ; Aad little Willie erud " Oh, Daddy ! I's 10 glad 'ea'i come frem town, For I eanatt lad my Mammy 1" I kimd the child, but iteod, ai dumb ; Whilst th« tiny lad periiited, " Daddy, whon will Mammy came ?" It iear'l my ionl to hear him quostion, and my heart'! wouad freihly hied ; I euddltS baby eloie to me, kissed hii fao«, aalfalt'riagaail, n Wh«a will Mammy oeme? my boy; she eaaaot eerat : poor BCammy'i dead 1" " Dead I" tried Willy ; « Mammy dead 1" My Me*rt wai dead ; I touIA net speak ; While lobbing loud, " I want my Mammy 1" s little baby fell aiUep. latb the aoase I gtatly bore him ; into the roem where tht body lay ; And iteel beside the itill white flguro, whoio ■eal that men had flewa away. Aid ai I Kane! up«a the featurai, lately llltd with joy ana life, Garni npea thia fearsome thing I— That ■erang mother, friead and wife 1 Gedl I f»ll I iheald ge ora?y with my overpew'ring deem ; If I any lenger tarried la that forror-haunted ream I Oa the morrow, little Willie eoujht his mother high and lew, And outside the door of death tho little boy wai i«ea te q« ; Striving hard to turn the handla ; crying out amid the dia, " Mammy 1 Mammy] lis Willie 1 Wcn't 'ou come aa' let me in f " And whea the funeral wai over, oft' within enr lilent home, Neitling ia »y arrai, he'd aik me, " Daddy, whea will Mammy come ?" Aad when % few short monthi wero over baby lay with fever ill, And hii merry foot and prattle — All the world te me ! — were still. And one evening ia the Autumn, when the ■on wai linking fast, The doctor called me from my study, and ■aid, " this aight is baby'i lait 1" I hastened to the little chamber ; thero he lay apoa his bed, Hii little hand* ie thin and waited, while tho esrli frem his dear head Straggled o'tr a pale wee face, where the aeotie iaih waa plaia ; And hii briath wan hot and laboured, while tbrebb'd fait the fevar'd braia. QcA 1 Te think ef that sad ploture ; mark the minutei quickly ge, Taling from you the last lunshine, filling up year oap of wee, — Tail to fe«l I Oh ! none but fathon— none but mothers e'er can know 1 " Daddy," laid the little fellow, ai if he law a viiioa fair, " Mamny'i coming, I can iei her ; and I'a going back with her ; And from ray aeek hii aandi were loosed, as hii lipi grew cold and numb ; " Good-bye Daddy, Us going,— going, Daddy : Mammy's eomel" Thia is all my little itory,— tale of long and far away ; But these words are even with me, even at this distant day. Agaia I set the bin* tyti blaming, and the hair like golden foam ; And ny iobl orita out, with praytr anooaaing, " When to me, will Mammy oome."