Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A BENEDICTION, by ALICE MILLIGAN


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A BENEDICTION, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Dear little boy
Last Line: All I have wished for you.
Alternate Author Name(s): Olkyrn, Iris
Subject(s): Children; Wishes; Hope


Dear little boy,
Soft-handed, playing with white daisies now,
Playing above tree shadows on the grass,
Where sorrowful I pass,
A gloom upon the sunlight of your joy
Seems to fall down whilst I am laying now
A kiss upon the brightness of your brow,
For with that kiss I did not wish you joy,
Dear little boy.

But this I wish for you,--
Not fortune, not much ease, not blissful days,
Not overmuch of even well-won praise,
Not even at end of life your labour's due--
But that beneath those little faltering feet,
In sacrifice complete,
A hard path may be chosen, the upward way,
On which I pause to-day--
Pause, helpless, weary, and can walk no more,
Whose work in life is o'er

And I bequeath,
When I must rest my share of earth beneath,
My days of toil being done,
The hope of this so nearly hopeless heart
To you, weak little one,
To be cherished and held apart,
Perhaps by failure to be tried and shaken,
Yet not by you for saken;
But kept, as I have kept it, handed on
Till, when you too are dust beneath the flowers,
Triumph at last is ours,
When darkness yields to dawn;
And may it be our best of heaven to know
That God has made it so.

Now you may run,
White pinafore, into the spreading sun;
Mid shadows racing as the clouds pass by,
Go, play, as thoughtless as the butterfly.
The white, gay thing that you are chasing after,
With ringing childish laughter;
And I, whose innocent days of mirth are o'er,
Seeing you look to me and laugh again,
Feel hope steal back into my heart once more--
Hope, with this thought of pain,
That, oh! you would be frightened if you knew
All I have wished for you.





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