Page:All quiet along the Potomac and other poems.djvu/209

 EARTH S ANGELS. 20$

Or see them as they leave us

Who walk beside us here, Their angelhood quite hidden,

Because it lives so near.

I can remember angels

Who seemed like common folks, Who wore old-fashioned bonnets

And faded winter cloaks ; Who came when dire disaster

Crowned lesser home mishap, Or younger claimants crowded

The dear maternal lap

With curving arms wide open

To take the weary in, With patient love to listen

To childish want or sin. What better thing could angels

For childish sinners do Than listen to their story

And bid them promise new ?

I think of fireside angels,

Upon whose faded hair There shone no crown of glory,

And yet the crown was there, When tender love, true-hearted,

Forgave the wrongs it knew, And patient voice gave answer

The days of trial through.

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