BIRTH-DAY VERSES. "The heart that we have lain near before our birth is the only one that cannot forget that it hath loved us." PHILIP SLINGSBY. My birthday!-Oh beloved mother! I did not think to count another Before I wept upon thy knees- My own I do not care to check. I weep-albeit here alone As if I hung upon thy neck, As if thy lips were on my own, As if this full, sad heart of mine, Were beating closely upon thine. Four weary years! How looks she now? What trace of time has touch'd the brow Whose name upon her lips is worn- I know not if my mother's eyes Would find me chang'd in slighter things; I've wandered beneath many skies, And tasted of some bitter springs; And many leaves, once fair and gay, From youth's full flower have dropp'd away- The lessen'd flower gets near the core, Takes closer what was dear of yore And yearns to those who lov'd it firstThe sunshine and the dew by which its bud was nurst. Dear mother! dost thou love me yet? Am I remember'd in my home? When those I love for joy are met, Does some one wish that I would come? Thou dost-I am belov'd of these! But, as the schoolboy numbers o'er Night after night the Pleiades And finds the stars he found before, My heart is full, mine eyes are wet Dear mother! dost thou love thy long-lost wanderer yet? Oh! when the hour to meet again Creeps on, and, speeding o'er the sea, And, link by link, draws nearer thee- Oh! if my heart break not with joy, The light of heaven will fairer seem; And I shall grow once more a boy : And, mother!-'twill be like a dream That we were parted thus for yearsAnd once that we have dried our tears, How will the days seem long and bright To meet thee always with the morn, And hear thy blessing every night |