Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, A GIRL LEADING HER BLIND MOTHER THROUGH THE WOOD, by NATHANIEL PARKER WILLIS


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

A GIRL LEADING HER BLIND MOTHER THROUGH THE WOOD, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: The green leaves as we pass
Last Line: With but one sense the soul may overflow.
Subject(s): Blindness; Mothers; Visually Handicapped


THE green leaves as we pass
Lay their light fingers on thee unaware,
And by thy side the hazels cluster fair,
And the low forest-grass
Grows green and silken where the wood-paths wind --
Alas! for thee, sweet mother! thou art blind!

And nature is all bright;
And the faint gray and crimson of the dawn,
Like folded curtains from the day are drawn;
And evening's purple light
Quivers in tremulous softness on the sky --
Alas! sweet mother! for thy clouded eye!

The moon's new silver shell
Trembles above thee, and the stars float up,
In the blue air, and the rich tulip's cup
Is pencill'd passing well,
And the swift birds on glorious pinions flee --
Alas! sweet mother! that thou canst not see!

And the kind looks of friends
Peruse the sad expression in thy face,
And the child stops amid his bounding race,
And the tall stripling bends
Low to thine ear with duty unforgot --
Alas! sweet mother! that thou seest them not!

But thou canst hear! and love
May richly on a human tone be pour'd,
And the least cadence of a whisper'd word
A daughter's love may prove --
And while I speak thou knowest if I smile,
Albeit thou canst not see my face the while!

Yes, thou canst hear! and He
Who on thy sightless eye its darkness hung,
To the attentive ear, like harps, hath strung
Heaven and earth and sea!
And 'tis a lesson in our hearts to know --
With but one sense the soul may overflow.





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