Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, MAMMA, WHERE DID PAPA GO?, by HENRY A. START


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MAMMA, WHERE DID PAPA GO?, by                    
First Line: Manuel and little juan
Last Line: "mamma, where did papa go?"
Subject(s): Capital Punishment; Children; Hanging; Executions; Death Penalty; Childhood


Manuel and little Juan,
When the night comes creeping on,
In their bed are tucked away
And their mama kneels to pray:
"Blessed Savior, do thou bless
And protect their helplessness!"
How she suffers none can know
When they whisper, sad and low,
"Mamma, where did papa go?"

Where indeed? A word, a fight,
A glittering knife, a cry of fright,
A bleeding body in the night!
And papa wrings his hands, alas,
That sudden rage to such a pass
Can bring a man. The law steps in
And as the price for such a sin
Condemns him by the neck to swing
Till he is dead! This awful thing
Is done; and now his baby boys,
Having laid aside their toys,
Question as their teardrops flow,
"Mamma, where did papa go?"

Brokenhearted mamma, how
Can you tell these babies now?
Innocent as angels yet,
Their cheeks with anguished tears are wet.
With endless grief and hopeless moans,
Each for the father's sin atones.

O God, that such harsh things must be!
Is there no way for us to see
What multitudes of guiltless ones
Are bruised and broken by the stones
That Justice casts! Must it be so?
"Mamma, where did papa go?"





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