A little child she, half defiant came Reasoning her case--'twas not so long ago-- "I cannot mind your scolding, for I know However bad I were you'd love the same." And I, what countering answer could I frame? 'Twas true, and true, and God's self told her so. One does but ask one's child to smile and grow, And each rebuke has love for its right name. And yet, methinks, sad mothers who for years, Watching the child pass forth that was their boast, Have counted all the footsteps by new fears Till even lost fears seem hopes whereof they're reft And of all mother's good love sole is left-- Is their Love, Love, or some remembered ghost? | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE FISH by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS RUINS OF CORINTH by ANTIPATER OF SIDON THREE THINGS by CHRISTOPHER BANNISTER BENEDICITE by ANNA CALLENDER BRACKETT ASOLANDO: THE POPE AND THE NET by ROBERT BROWNING A SICK-BED by WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT |