Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE OLD CRIB, by MARY TUCKER LAMBERT Poet's Biography First Line: I know thou art a senseless thing Last Line: My manly boy, my little girls! Alternate Author Name(s): Tucker, Mary Eliza Perine Subject(s): Cribs; Memory | ||||||||
"Sell that crib? Indeed! indeed I cannot, for I see in it the faces of my children. I will starve before I sell that crib." -- Confederate Lady, 1864. I KNOW thou art a senseless thing, Still recollections round thee cling Of joys long past; And I would fain retain thee now, Yet want's stern hand and lowering brow Has o'er me cast His misery with weight untold, And, much prized crib, thou must be sold! Ah! well do I remember yet, Remember? can I well forget That happy day, When a swift tide my spirit moved, And with a mother's soul, I loved The child that lay Within thy lap -- my precious boy! How throbbed my heart with untold joy. How swiftly, then, the years sweep on, With love, joy, wealth, they come, are gone, And very soon A little dark-eyed, bonny girl, Pressed on thy pillow many a curl. Most precious boon That ever was to mortal given -- A cherub, from the gates of heaven. And yet again, some powerful spell, Called to this earth, sweet baby Bell, My sunbeam child, With hair of gold, and eyes of blue, And cheeks that vie the rosebud's hue -- Pure, undefiled! About my heart she seems to twine, As round the oak, the clinging vine. Take back thy gold! It shall not go! 'Twas mine in weal, and now in woe: It comforts me. It takes me back, in fitful gleams, To the sweet, fairy land of dreams, And then I see Those little heads, with glossy curls, My manly boy, my little girls! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...MEMORY AS A HEARING AID by TONY HOAGLAND THE SAME QUESTION by JOHN HOLLANDER FORGET HOW TO REMEMBER HOW TO FORGET by JOHN HOLLANDER ON THAT SIDE by LAWRENCE JOSEPH MEMORY OF A PORCH by DONALD JUSTICE BEYOND THE HUNTING WOODS by DONALD JUSTICE |
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