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AIR OF COOLNESS PLAYS UPON HIS FACE', by             Poem Explanation         Poet's Biography
First Line: Out of the four and twenty hours


Air of coolness plays upon his face,
An unaccustomed peacefulness is there,
As though the little head with its crisp hair
Wore for this night a halo of sweet grace.
And you, O fragile little ones, whose hands
Hold fast the cord of life, be not afraid!
Tonight the first-born, sleeping where he laid
In years agone, smiles as a father stands
Beside his bed, and sees in him the sign
Of an unbroken chain that stretches far,
With links of love that life and death may mar,
But never, never break while worlds shall shine.
For every child is king within his time,
And every father has his hour supreme;
Empires may rise and fall, but through all time
The chain of fathers and of sons shall gleam.
Oh, little one, born to his heritage,
Thou art a link in that long golden chain,
And never shall thy father live in vain,
Nor thine, nor his, nor any on life's page.
For God is just, and in his endless plan
He set the first-born at the family head,
A heritage that never may be dead,
A living bond between the child and man.
So sleep, O little one, with an untried heart,
Nor dream what flaming torch shall be thy share;
Thou art the hope of all that's pure and fair,
The bearer of the future, set apart
For that great hour when thou, with thy life's chain,
Shalt link the past with all the years to be,
And that great chain of love and destiny
Shall stretch unbroken through the blinding rain.




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