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two letters.
Two Letters.
Two letters reached me on the self-same morn;
One came to tell
That in one home a little babe was born,
Child and mother well.
One came to tell
That in one home a little babe was born,
Child and mother well.
What joy there'll be within that home to-day,
I, smiling, said;
Then turned to where the other letter lay,
And, weeping, read,
I, smiling, said;
Then turned to where the other letter lay,
And, weeping, read,
That in another home the light had gone
From mother's eyes:
Her pain-racked form at rest, her spirit flown
To Paradise.
From mother's eyes:
Her pain-racked form at rest, her spirit flown
To Paradise.
For one, the thrilling touch of wee warm hands
And baby lips;
The other, parting, silence, and the unseen lands,
The grave's eclipse.
And baby lips;
The other, parting, silence, and the unseen lands,
The grave's eclipse.
Within one home, all joy, a mother sleeping,
With babe at breast;
Within the other, sorrow, fond hearts weeping
O'er one at rest.
With babe at breast;
Within the other, sorrow, fond hearts weeping
O'er one at rest.
'Tis ever thus, our joys are shadowed
By sorrow's knell;
But with the living mother, and the dead,
Thank God! 'tis well.
By sorrow's knell;
But with the living mother, and the dead,
Thank God! 'tis well.
