Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MOTHER'S GRIEF, by HILDEGARD OTT RUSSELL


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MOTHER'S GRIEF, by                    
First Line: Dry-eyed she sat up waiting through the night
Last Line: A poignant pain is dumb and gnaws the bone.
Subject(s): Boys; Grief; Loss; Tragedy; Sorrow; Sadness


Dry-eyed she sat up waiting through the night
For any word that might relieve suspense . . .
While frothing billows beat a heathen rite
Against the old sea wall, her nerves grew tense.
Beneath the rankled foam, there sounds a knell
That barely dies as dawn is breaking through.
How could she know that Neptune tolls a bell
When mortals pass before him in review?

The empty boat was more than she could bear,
And hardened men broke at her muted grief,
As marble-white she sank in anguished prayer. . . .
"Give back my boy!" They trembled like a leaf.
When tears are stemmed, the heart is chiseled stone. . . .
A poignant pain is dumb and gnaws the bone.





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