Poems (Kimball)/To my Godson

by Harriet McEwen Kimball

TO MY GODSON, C. E. H.

{smaller}(Sexagesima, 1886.)

A YEAR ago I received you, dear child,
 From the waters of Baptism; on your brow
The sign of the Kingdom undefiled,—
 The sign that the angels see there now.

It was then that the bond between us was made
 Godson and godmother, you and I;
When the precious burden on me was laid
 That you will lift from me by and by.

Yes, that was only a year ago
 By the Church's reckoning, little one;
One of these days my boy will know
 What godmother means and what godson.

I almost trembled to take you that day,
 Half lost in the long, fair robes that you wore
How tiny you looked, and how helpless you lay,
 While your downy head in in my palm I upbore.

But already, my boy, you are running about
 On those adventurous little feet,
Midst the circle of sisters who laugh and shout
 At your baby frolics and lispings sweet.

The mirth that is masked in a rueful look
 How swiftly you answer with gleeful eyes!
How you fling down the bauble and seize the book,
 Discerning without discerning the prize!

Yesterday's favors you claim to-day;
 And oh, with what artless stratagem,
Eluding all tactics, you make your way,
 O'ermatching the wit that your progress would hem.

But already, too, you are learning, I know,
 The tender restraint, the loving control
Of the sweetest home in the world; and oh,
 The blessing henceforward to body and soul!

My dear little godson, my beautiful boy,
 On this, the day of your mystical birth,
I will not give you a fragile toy—
 I cannot give you a gift of worth.

So I clasp you close to my heart, and pray
 That the sign the angels see there now,
God's priceless gift to you, day by day
 Brighter and brighter may burn on your brow.

Brighter and brighter, as year by year
 You are taught to follow His blessed will,
Kept in his steadfast love and fear,
 Fighting and overcoming still.

Brighter and brighter, as boyhood speeds,
 And youth and manhood pass away,
And the shining path of obedience leads
 On to the light of the perfect day.