Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, LOST AND FOUND, by MARCUS S. C. RICKARDS


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

LOST AND FOUND, by                    
First Line: I found it yesterday, the book
Last Line: And know thy blessing haunts me yet!
Subject(s): Beauty; Tears; Truth


I FOUND it yesterday, the Book
That "with a Mother's blessing" traced
Upon the title page, I took
When first the world I faced;
Young, thoughtless, gay, I little dreamed
With what delight the Volume teemed;
I guessed not, till I bid adieu,
The Blessing's worth, but then I knew --

I knew it mid the loneliness
Of vanished smile and voice -- I felt
That something of her last caress
In those dear pages dwelt --
Still dwells, for when the Volume came
To light, it lingered just the same;
The magic of her prayers and tears
Had vanquished the decay of years.

I knew it better in the hour
Of strife with many a battling sin;
That Blessing chilled the flaming power
Of fire that blazed within:
And best I knew it when I conned
The glorious words that she, with fond
Appeal, had bid me learn and store;
Whose beauty won me more and more.

She meant it as a lifelong charm --
Her Blessing blent with that high Truth --
To hold proud manhood back from harm,
Nor only simple youth:
I might have known it better still,
But for self-seeking, and self-will:
Sad omen, fraught with fatal cost
That Book unstudied, slighted, lost!

But now 'tis found again -- O Joy!
Is that a pledge that I once more
Find the lost wealth, that as a boy,
I deemed it bliss to store?
Ah! happy he, who, alway wise
To know its value, never sighs
For what the false World reckons gain,
But which the Truth has stamped as vain.

Blind fools, we have to handle dross
Before we know the feel of gold;
True opulence we scorn, till loss
Its empty tale has told.
Dear Mother! dost thou see me now?
And canst thou hear a contrite vow?
Mark these sad tears, this late regret,
And know thy Blessing haunts me yet!





Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


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