MY father! when I saw thee last, Thy noble, manly form, Was unbent by the cares of time -- Unshattered by life's storm. The raven hair around thy brow Was scarcely tinged with gray -- While the bright lustre of thine eye Denied old age's sway. Oft in my dreams I see thy face, As 'twas when last we met; If we should never meet again, Thy smile I'll ne'er forget. My father, years have passed since then; Aye, stern, heart-breaking years; And we have each been made to feel Life's sorrows, and life's tears. Now, I am in my womanhood -- They say, life's glorious page; And, father, I regret to think, That you have reached old age. Grieve not, grieve not, for broken buds, They'll open in the sky; In bower of celestial light, They'll bloom, and never die. Dear father, thou hast ever been To me, thy orphan child, A father and a mother too, Kind, thoughtful, just and mild. Then grant me, father, but this boon, Then will thy child be blest -- Let me watch o'er thy latest years, And lay thee down to rest. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...THE CROSS by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON TO ATLANTA UNIVERSITY - ITS FOUNDERS AND TEACHERS by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON UTOPIA by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON COUNTRYWOMEN by KATHERINE MANSFIELD |