Page:The Works of Lord Byron (ed. Coleridge, Prothero) - Volume 1.djvu/300

260 TO MY SON

1.

Those flaxen locks, those eyes of blue

Bright as thy mother's in their hue;

Those rosy lips, whose dimples play

And smile to steal the heart away,

Recall a scene of former joy,

And touch thy father's heart, my Boy!

2.

And thou canst lisp a father's name—

Ah, William, were thine own the same,—

No self-reproach—but, let me cease—

My care for thee shall purchase peace;

Thy mother's shade shall smile in joy,

And pardon all the past, my Boy!

3.

Her lowly grave the turf has prest,

And thou hast known a stranger's breast;

Derision sneers upon thy birth,

And yields thee scarce a name on earth;

Yet shall not these one hope destroy,—

A Father's heart is thine, my Boy!