Classic Poem

A bud of life just opening
Its petals fresh and fair,
But now frost-nipped and withered
In spite of all my care!

Both day and night I watched it;
'Twas never out of sight:
Glad tears I gave for dew-drops,
And love for sunshine bright.

And yet it needs must wither!
O Father, tell me why,
Of all in earth's wide garden,
My tiny flower must die!

A thousand happy mothers
Their little ones still hold,
While I for mine must hunger
With yearnings all untold.

In other homes, child voices
Laugh out their happy glee;
But all their winsome prattle
Seems mockery now to me!

For my child's voice is silent;
And no one tells me why,
Of all glad mothers' children,
My precious child must die!

Then came from out the silence —
As though some heart above
Was melted into pity —
These tender words of love:

" O mother, in your sorrow,
O father, in your grief,
Can you not trust a little,
And, trusting, find relief?

" I lead you in the darkness
A way you may not tell;
And, if I would, I cannot
The mystery dispel.

" Can you, with all your trying,
To childish thought make plain
The wisdom of your training,
The school-day toil and pain?

" However plain the language,
It falls on childish ears:
They cannot spell its meaning
With eyes all dim with tears.

" The boy cannot know manhood;
The coming years must teach
How childhood's trust and trouble
Toward grander issues reach.

" Till you can read the future,
How can you know to-day?
'Tis ever by the ending
That you must judge the way.

" To your own little children,
Who, fearful, clasp your hand,
You say, " Fear not, but trust me:
Some day , you'll understand."

" Learn thus your own good lesson:
Be patient; and one day,
From some height looking backward,
You'll see your earthly way;

" And then your grown-up childhood
You'll know as school-day hours;
And all your tears as dew-drops
That helped life's opening flowers.

" Trust, then, while through the darkness
I lead you by the hand.
The end that's now beyond you
Some day, you'll understand. "