Classic Poem

" GOOD night! good night! I go to sleep, "
Murmured the little child;
And O, the ray of heaven that broke
On the sweet lips that faintly spoke
That soft " good night, " and smiled!

That angel smile! that loving look
From the dim, closing eyes!
The peace of that pure brow! But there —
Ay, on that brow, so young, so fair —
An awful shadow lies.

The gloom of evening, of the boughs
That o'er yon window wave —
Nay, nay, within these silent walls
A deeper, darker shadow falls,
The twilight of the grave —

The twilight of the grave; for still
Fast comes the fluttering breath;
One fading smile, one look of love,
A murmur, as from brooding dove,
" Good night: " — and this is death!

O, who hath called thee " terrible " ?
Mild angel! most benign!
Could mother's fondest lullaby
Have laid to rest more blissfully
That sleeping babe, than thine?

Yet this is death — the doom for all
Of Adam's race decreed;
" But this poor lamb, this little one,
What had the guiltless creature done? "
Unhappy heart, take heed!

Though H E is merciful as just
Who hears that fond appeal,
He will not break the bruised reed,
He will not search the wounds that bleed;
He only wounds to heal.

" Let little children come to me, "
He cried, and to his breast
Folded them tenderly; to-day
He calls thine unshorn lamb away
To that securest rest.