I. Make it wide, make it deep, and with moss be it lin'd, His delicate limbs no rude pebbles shall wound; My babe with its mother in death shall be join'd! Then the lord of my wishes, no longer unkind, May shed a fond tear on the grief-hallow'd ground. Lay it close by my side, Lay it close by my side, 'T is the child of my Edmond? and I -- was his bride. II. Who says that I murder'd the peace of my love, That his heart was another's, his hand only mine? Hush, hush! 't is not true! -- her affection to prove, His Eudora each obstacle soon will remove; Content for his sake every bliss to resign. With my babe on my breast, With my babe on my breast, My heart's lord shall be happy! and I -- be at rest! III. Then if, hand lock'd in hand, o'er my grave they should stray, And vanity smile o'er the ruins of love, Yet let justice and pity instruct them to say, "She merited better, but fate had its way: And now her pure spirit is soaring above! With her babe on her breast. With her babe on her breast, Now earth shrinks from her view, and the mourner's at rest." | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...HIGH PLAINS RAG by JAMES GALVIN THE GIANTS OF HISTORY by JAMES GALVIN TO ATLANTA UNIVERSITY - ITS FOUNDERS AND TEACHERS by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON A BANJO SONG by JAMES WELDON JOHNSON ATELIER CEZANNE by CLARENCE MAJOR SURFACES AND MASKS; 12 by CLARENCE MAJOR |