A MOTHER'S LAMENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 2120, 11 October 1894, Page 39

A MOTHER'S LAMENT.

Now spring is on the earth again, And opening buds and springing flowers Appeal- in garden, wood, and plain, And songs of birds ling in the bowers. But how can flow'r or landscape green A mourniug mother's heart uplift From whom, with such brief space between, Death her two loveliest ones has reft. And budding shrub and flowering thorn In vain their glories gay unfold TO me who, oft in muse forlorn, But my two_darlings' graves behold. i Ah! .ceaselessly my thoughtstake wing j To where my little Jeaunie lies, To whom so fond my heart did cling, With her sweet face and ways so wise. Her being's roots seemed day by day Entwined more deeply in my core ; ! And when Death snatched my dear away, | My quivering heart then likewise tore 4 And that sweet bud of promise too, With toddling steps and prattling voice, And charms unfolding that to view Make's a' fond Mother's heart rejoice. In him, laid too 60 quickly low, While yet for her my heart was rent ; How cruel seemed the added blow That me anew caused to lament. Now to my view God's ways seem dark, Yet Him, in fear, I walked before ; Then why has He made me a mark For such unwonted tz-ials sore? ,-. - But when the furious tempest blows "j^a And trees resisting down are cast, ?w.The humble bulrush safely bows ;''->VIts head until the storm is past. < v^ Then, like the bulrush, 1 would bow In meek submission, Lord, to Thee ; Nor, like the tree, resist Thy blow, Lest it should spend its force on ine/-. And though for them my heart sore yearns, And I their loss feel hard to bear, I know, dear Lord, my sinless bairns Must be far happier in thy care. And in my Saviour's blood I see A hope that well my grief may stem I Though they can ne'er return to me, Yet I, through it, will go to than). Tapanui, October 1894. — D. Ferguson.