Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

TO MY DEAR SON, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: How shall I bless thee?
Alternate Author Name(s): Gifford, Lady; Dufferin, Lady


How shall I bless thee! human love
Is all too poor in passionate words;
The heart aches with a sense above
All language that the lip affords:
Therefore a symbol shall express
My love, a thing nor rare nor strange,
But yet eternal, measureless,
Knowing no shadow and no change
Light, which of all the lovely shows
To our poor world of shadows given,
The fervent prophet-voices chose
Alone as attribute of heaven.
At a most solemn pause we stand;
From this day forth forevermore
The weak but lovnig human hand
Must cease to guide thee as of yore;
Then as through life thy footsteps stray
And earthly beacons dimly shine,
" Let there be light " upon thy way,
And holier guidance than mine.
"Let there be light " in thy clear soul
When passion tempts or doubts assail:
When grief's dark tempests o'er thee roll
Let there be light that shall not fail.


So, angel-guarded, may'st thou tread
The narrow path which few may find;
And at the end look back nor dread
To count the vanished years behind;
And pray tliat she whose hand doth trace
This heart-warm prayer, when life is past,
May see and know thy blessed face
In God's own glorious light at last.






Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net