"Who bears upon his baby brow the round And top of sovereignty."
Look at me with thy large brown eyes, Philip, my king!
For round thee the purple shadow lies Of babyhood's royal dignities. Lay on my neck thy tiny hand
With Love's invisible sceptre laden ; I am thine Esther, to command
Till thou shalt find thy queen-handmaiden, Philip, my king!
O, the day when thou goest a-wooing, Philip, my king!
When those beautiful lips 'gin suing, And, some gentle heart's bars undoing, Thou dost enter, love-crowned, and there Sittest love-glorified! - Rule kindly, Tenderly over thy kingdom fair;
For we that love, ah! we love so blindly, Philip, my king!
I gaze from thy sweet mouth up to thy brow, Philip, my king!
The spirit that there lies sleeping now May rise like a giant, and make men bow
As to one Heaven-chosen amongst his peers.
CRADLE SONG.
66 FROM BITTER-SWEET."
WHAT is the little one thinking about? Very wonderful things, no doubt; Unwritten history!
Unfathomed mystery!
Yet he chuckles, and crows, and nods, and winks, As if his head were as full of kinks And curious riddles as any sphinx! Warped by colic, and wet by tears, Punctured by pins, and tortured by fears, Our little nephew will lose two years; And he'll never know
Where the summers go;
He need not laugh, for he 'll find it so.
Who can tell what a baby thinks? Who can follow the gossamer links
By which the manikin feels his way Out from the shore of the great unknown, Blind, and wailing, and alone,
Into the light of day?
Out from the shore of the unknown sea, Tossing in pitiful agony;
Of the unknown sea that reels and rolls, Specked with the barks of little souls, Barks that were launched on the other side, And slipped from heaven on an ebbing tide! What does he think of his mother's eyes?
My Saul, than thy brethren higher and fairer, | What does he think of his mother's hair?
Let me behold thee in future years! Yet thy head needeth a circlet rarer, Philip, my king ;
A wreath, not of gold, but palm. One day, Philip, my king!
Thou too must tread, as we trod, a way Thorny, and cruel, and cold, and gray; Rebels within thee and foes without
Will snatch at thy crown. But march on, glorious,
Martyr, yet monarch! till angels shout, As thou sitt'st at the feet of God victorious, "Philip, the king!"
What of the cradle-roof, that flies Forward and backward through the air?
What does he think of his mother's breast, Bare and beautiful, smooth and white, Seeking it ever with fresh delight,
Cup of his life, and couch of his rest? What does he think when her quick embrace Presses his hand and buries his face Deep where the heart-throbs sink and swell, With a tenderness she can never tell, Though she murmur the words
Words she has learned to murmur well? Now he thinks he'll go to sleep!
I can see the shadow creep
Over his eyes in soft eclipse, Over his brow and over his lips, Out to his little finger-tips! Softly sinking, down he goes! Down he goes! down he goes! See! he's hushed in sweet repose.
JOSIAH GILBERT HOLLAND.
I HAVE got a new-born sister; I was nigh the first that kissed her. When the nursing-woman brought her To papa, his infant daughter, How papa's dear eyes did glisten!· She will shortly be to christen; And papa has made the offer, I shall have the naming of her.
Now I wonder what would please her, Charlotte, Julia, or Louisa?
Ann and Mary, they 're too common; Joan's too formal for a woman; Jane's a prettier name beside; But we had a Jane that died. They would say, if 't was Rebecca, That she was a little Quaker. Edith's pretty, but that looks Better in old English books; Ellen's left off long ago; Blanche is out of fashion now. None that I have named as yet Are so good as Margaret. Emily is neat and fine; What do you think of Caroline ? How I'm puzzled and perplexed What to choose or think of next! I am in a little fever
Lest the name that I should give her Should disgrace her or defame her; I will leave papa to name her.
CHEEKS as soft as July peaches; Lips whose dewy scarlet teaches Poppies paleness; round large eyes Ever great with new surprise; Minutes filled with shadeless gladness; Minutes just as brimmed with sadness; Happy smiles and wailing cries ;
Crows, and laughs, and tearful eyes; Lights and shadows, swifter born
Than on wind-swept autumn corn; Ever some new tiny notion,
Making every limb all motion; Catchings up of legs and arms; Throwings back and small alarms; Clutching fingers; straightening jerks; Twining feet whose each toe works; Kickings up and straining risings; Mother's ever new surprisings; Hands all wants and looks all wonder At all things the heavens under; Tiny scorns of smiled reprovings That have more of love than lovings; Mischiefs done with such a winning Archness that we prize such sinning; Breakings dire of plates and glasses; Graspings small at all that passes; Pullings off of all that's able To be caught from tray or table; Silences, - small meditations Deep as thoughts of cares for nations; Breaking into wisest speeches In a tongue that nothing teaches; All the thoughts of whose possessing Must be wooed to light by guessing ; Slumbers, such sweet angel-seemings That we'd ever have such dreamings; Till from sleep we see thee breaking, And we'd always have thee waking; Wealth for which we know no measure; Pleasure high above all pleasure; Gladness brimming over gladness; Joy in care; delight in sadness; Loveliness beyond completeness; Sweetness distancing all sweetness ; Beauty all that beauty may be ; That's May Bennett; that 's my baby.
I'm in love with you, Baby Louise! Why you never raise your beautiful head! Some day, little one, your cheek will grow red With a flush of delight, to hear the words said, "I love you," Baby Louise.
Do you hear me, Baby Louise?
I have sung your praises for nearly an hour,
O, pray to them softly, my baby, with me! And say thou wouldst rather They'd watch o'er thy father! For I know that the angels are whispering to thee."
The dawn of the morning Saw Dermot returning,
And your lashes keep drooping lower and lower, And the wife wept with joy her babe's father to see ;
you've gone to sleep, like a weary flower, Ungrateful Baby Louise!
And closely caressing
Her child with a blessing,
Said, "I knew that the angels were whispering with thee."
TIMELY blossom, Infant fair,
Fondling of a happy pair, Every morn and every night Their solicitous delight,
Sleeping, waking, still at ease, Pleasing, without skill to please; Little gossip, blithe and hale, Tattling many a broken tale, Singing many a tuneless song, Lavish of a heedless tongue; Simple maiden, void of art, Babbling out the very heart, Yet abandoned to thy will, Yet imagining no ill,
Yet too innocent to blush; Like the linnet in the bush To the mother-linnet's note Moduling her slender throat; Chirping forth thy petty joys, Wanton in the change of toys, Like the linnet green, in May Flitting to each bloomy spray; Wearied then and glad of rest, Like the linnet in the nest - This thy present happy lot, This in time will be forgot: Other pleasures, other cares, Ever busy Time prepares; And thou shalt in thy daughter see, This picture, once, resembled thee.
THOU happy, happy elf!
(But stop, first let me kiss away that tear,) Thou tiny image of myself!
(My love, he's poking peas into his ear,) Thou merry, laughing sprite,
With spirits, feather light,
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