Page:Ballads of a Bohemian.djvu/162

160 Oh, children, kiss me and go to bed: Leave me to think of the Other One.

Of the One who will never grow up at all, Who will always be just a child at play. Tender and trusting and sweet and small, Who will never leave me and go away; Who will never hurt me and give me pain; Who will comfort me when I’m all alone; A heart of love that’s without a stain, Always and always my own, my own.

Yet a thought shines out from the dark of pain, And it gives me hope to be reconciled: ''That each of us must be born again, ''And live and die as a little child; ''So that with souls all shining white, ''White as snow and without one sin, ''We may come to the Gates of Eternal Light, ''Where only children may enter in.

So, gentle mothers, don’t ever grieve Because you have lost, but kiss the rod; From the depths of your woe be glad, believe You’ve given an angel unto God. Rejoice! You’ve a child whose youth endures, Who comes to you when the day is done, Wistful for love, oh, yours, just yours, Dearest of all, the Other One.