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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
THE LONELY CHILD, by JAMES OPPENHEIM Poet's Biography
First Line: Do you think, my boy, when I put my arms around you
Last Line: Drift into dreams and healing sleep.
Subject(s): Fathers
First Line: Do you think, my boy, when I put my arms around you
Last Line: Drift into dreams and healing sleep.
Subject(s): Fathers
Do you think, my boy, when I put my arms around you
To still your fears
That it is I who conquer the dark and the lonely night?
My arms seem to wrap love about you,
As your little heart fluttering at my breast
Throbs love through me --
But, dear one, it is not your father:
Other arms are about you, drawing you near,
And drawing the earth near, and the night near,
And your father near.
Some day you shall lie alone at nights,
As now your father lies;
And in those arms, as a leaf fallen on a tranquil stream,
Drift into dreams and healing sleep.
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