Something the heart must have to cherish, Must love and joy and sorrow learn, Something with passion clasp or perish, And in itself to ashes burn. So to this child my heart is clinging, And its frank eyes, with look intense, Me from a world of sin are bringing Back to a world of innocence. Disdain must thou endure forever; Strong may thy heart in danger be! Thou shalt not fail! but ah, be never False as thy father was to me. Never will I forsake thee, faithless, And thou thy mother ne'er forsake, Until her lips are white and breathless, Until in death her eyes shall break. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A SUMMER'S GARDEN by ROBERT FROST LOST ILLUSIONS by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON SONNET: 24. THE STREET by JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL ON GROWING OLD by JOHN MASEFIELD AT THE CANNON'S MOUTH by HERMAN MELVILLE THE DYING SWAN by THOMAS STURGE MOORE DO THOU LOVE, TOO! by JOHANNA AMBROSIUS |