Other formats

    TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The New Zealand Evangelist

Poetry — Art Thou A Mother?

page 90

Poetry.

Art Thou A Mother?

Art thou a mother? Do thine eyes
With transport overflow,
To see thine olive-plants arise,
And round thy table grow?
It is in truth a lovely sight,
May it thy bosom fill
With fond enjoyment and delight,
And cheer thy dwelling still!
Art thou a mother? Ever bear
This solemn truth in mind;
That thou must for their spirits care,
Which are by nature blind.
Tis right to tend their mortal frames,
And all their wants supply;
But, ah! their souls have stronger claims,
For these shall never die.
Art thou a mother? Early teach
Their infant lips to pray
To Him, who, ‘midst their faltering speech,
Knows all they wish to say.
Oh! bring them to the cross betimes,
For, if the Lord's while young,
Each life shall then be free from crimes,
And from deceit each tongue.
Art thou a mother? Daily draw
(As thou must still impart)
New lessons from God's holy law,
To purify thy heart.
Then, as they grow in sense and age,
Thy little ones shall see
The precepts of the sacred page
Exemplifies in thee.
page 91 Art thou a mother? Watch, and fear
To be thyself deceived;
An error once committed here
Can never be retrieved.
The seed that's on the billows tost
May on some shore be thrown;
But if a human soul be lost
It is for ever gone!