Classic Poem

Aw , Vechan, my awn, let me sit by your side,
With the baby asleep on my knee.
'Tis just like as if my awn little maid
Had come back once more to me;
I don't feel a bit like a granny, my dear —
It is all as it used to be.

I can feel 'ee again so close to my side —
On earth there was nothing so blest;
I can feel the sweet breath of my awn little maid,
As I fold 'ee again to my breast;
And the gladness of tending 'ee all day and night
Was better to me than my rest.

Aw, Vechan, there's days that your Mammy can mind
Of sorrow or gladness or pain;
But of all the days of my life there is one
That stands in my mind the most plain:
'Tis the day of your comin', my awn little maid,
The day that has come back again.

'Twas October, you know, and the winds had been wild,
The dead leaves were swept from the tree;
But that day, my Vechan, the sky was all blue,
And the sun shone on land and sea;
And the birds were a-singin' as if they all knew
The joy God had given to me.

Aw, Vechan, my Vechan, I tell 'ee that day
The greatest on earth it was I.
'Twas strange to think that I held in my arms,
What the gold of the world could not buy;
And for joy of havin' my awn little maid
My heart was a laugh and a cry.

I used for to think that the angels of God
Came crowdin' from heaven to see
That sweet little face as you lay in my arms,
Or was lyin' asleep on my knee;
And I thought that there never was one of them all,
But would like to change places with me.

I mind how I slept though the winter winds howled,
And the thunder crashed in the sky;
'Twas nothing to me, all the roll of the streets
When the waggons went rumblin' by —
But, Vechan, your Mammy was up with a start
At the first little sound of a cry.

Do 'ee look at the dear little face of her now —
'Tis the image of how you once lay;
And, Vechan, she've got your very awn eyes,
And just your awn pretty way.
Aw, Vechan, my Vechan, the good Lord be praised
That I've lived for to see this day.