Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


THE LOST CHILD by ST. CLAIR ADAMS

First Line: TWAS ON THE BALMY DAY
Last Line: "I'M HERE, MA."" IT WAS WILLIE."
Subject(s): MOTHERS;

'T WAS on the balmy day
Set for the sports aquatic
And people lounged about
In multitudes chaotic
When rising from her brood,
In accents frantic, thrilly,
An ancient woman cried:
"Where's Willie? Oh, where's Willie?"

From all that concourse vast
A groan rose as men pondered
What frightful things befall
A helpless child that's wandered.
It might in forests stray,
Or for a water-lily
Reach out its hand, and fall.
Wild eyes looked round for Willie.

Then, as from out the deep
A vast whale heaves its shoulder,
Rose from the throng a man
Full forty years or older
Who weighed two hundred pounds.
He looked uncommon silly
As out he called, "I'm here--
I'm here, ma." It was Willie.



Home: PoetryExplorer.net