Classic Poem

Der kranke Sohn und die Mutter

The heartsick son and the mother
Were sleeping in the gloom,
And the Mother of God came softly
And entered the little room.

She bent down over the lover
And one white hand was drawn
Over his heart so gently
And, smiling, She was gone.

In a dream the mother saw this,
And would have seen still more
But the dogs' loud baying awoke her;
She stumbled to the floor.

And there, stretched out and quiet,
He lay — and he was dead.
And on his cheeks the daybreak
Shone with a sudden red.

She folded her hands and sat there,
She did not rail or whine;
She murmured over and over,
" Queen Mary, praise be Thine! "