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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
CHILDHOOD, by VICTOR MARIE HUGO Poet's Biography
First Line: The infant sang; the mother, life near over
Last Line: The slender branches for its load too frail.
Subject(s): Children; Death - Mothers; Childhood; Dead, The
First Line: The infant sang; the mother, life near over
Last Line: The slender branches for its load too frail.
Subject(s): Children; Death - Mothers; Childhood; Dead, The
THE infant sang; the mother, life near over,
Upon her darkened bed lay moaning, white;
While Death above in the dim air did hover.
I heard Death's rattle and the singing mite.
His playful babble sounding by the skylight,
Told all the bliss from five brief summers drawn;
His mother when he fell asleep with twilight,
Beside his tender breathing coughed till dawn.
They bore her to the grave for her last slumber;
But the child's happy singing did not fail:
Grief is a fruit; God wills not it should cumber
The slender branches for its load too frail.
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