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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE CHILD, by ISABEL ECCLESTONE MACKAY Poet's Biography
First Line: I may not lift him in my arms. His face
Last Line: O, we are both bereft, bereft—the mother and the child!
Subject(s): Angels; Babies; Birth; Children; Courts & Courtiers; Mothers; Infants; Child Birth; Midwifery; Childhood
First Line: I may not lift him in my arms. His face
Last Line: O, we are both bereft, bereft—the mother and the child!
Subject(s): Angels; Babies; Birth; Children; Courts & Courtiers; Mothers; Infants; Child Birth; Midwifery; Childhood
I MAY not lift him in my arms. His face I may not see—
Are angel hands more tender than a mother's hands may be?
And does he smile to hear the song an angel stole from me?
The wise King said, "He cannot come but I will go to him!"
O David! did you seek with words to make the grave less grim?
And did you think to cheat, with words, the jealous seraphim?
So! he will learn of heaven—he, who scarcely knew the earth.
All fullness waits the baby eyes that never looked on dearth—
The mystery of death usurps the mystery of birth!
What light has earth to give me for the light that heaven beguiled?
What is the calm of heaven to him who has not known the wild?—
O, we are both bereft, bereft—the mother and the child!
Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!
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THE THREE CHILDREN by JOSEPHINE JACOBSEN
CHILDREN SELECTING BOOKS IN A LIBRARY by RANDALL JARRELL
COME TO THE STONE ... by RANDALL JARRELL
THE LOST WORLD by RANDALL JARRELL
A SICK CHILD by RANDALL JARRELL
CONTINENT'S END by ROBINSON JEFFERS
ON THE DEATH OF FRIENDS IN CHILDHOOD by DONALD JUSTICE
THE POET AT SEVEN by DONALD JUSTICE
A CHRISTMAS CHILD by ISABEL ECCLESTONE MACKAY