Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE MOTHER'S LAMENT, by ST. CLAIR ADAMS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE MOTHER'S LAMENT, by                    
First Line: Off to the college my only son went
Last Line: He'll nevermore be the same.
Subject(s): Mothers


OFF to the college my only son went;
I loved him as mothers do--
He was bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh,
And blood of my heart-blood too.
Returning, he kissed me and praised the old place
And said he would make him a name:
Brave, splendid, and loyal, my son had come back--
But he had not come back the same.

Out into the world my only son went;
I prayed and I hoped and I grieved
For all he must pass through, and how I rejoiced
When he won!--I had always believed.
He made me a visit and said that to him
I was dearer than riches or fame:
How true and how tender the boy that came back!--
But he had not come back the same.

For in years that had passed I had shared all his hopes,
All his joys, all his woes, all his play;
I had slaved for him, borne for him, suffered for him,
And been all his comfort and stay.
But how shrunken my part in his life has become!
I grieve, without anger or blame,
That his need for me's gone, that his need for me's gone.--
He'll nevermore be the same.





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