Given And Taken.

The snow-flakes were softly falling         Adown on the landscape white,     When the violet eyes of my first born         Opened unto the light;     And I thought as I pressed him to me,         With loving, rapturous thrill,     He was pure and fair as the snow-flakes         That lay on the landscape still.     I smiled when they spoke of the weary         Length of the winter's night,     Of the days so short and so dreary,         Of the sun's cold cheerless light -     I listened, but in their murmurs         Nor by word nor thought took part,     For the smiles of my gentle darling         Brought light to my home and heart.     Oh! quickly the joyous springtime         Came back to our ice-bound earth,     Filling meadows and woods with sunshine,         And hearts with gladsome mirth,     But, ah! on earth's dawning beauty         There rested a gloomy shade,     For our tiny household blossom         Began to droop and fade.     And I, shuddering, felt that the frailest         Of the flowers in the old woods dim     Had a surer hold on existence         Than I dared to hope for him.     In the flush of the summer's beauty         On a sunny, golden day,     When flowers gemmed dell and upland,         My darling passed away.     Now I chafed at the brilliant sunshine         That flooded my lonely room,     Now I wearied of bounteous Nature,         So full of life and bloom;     I regretted the wintry hours         With the snow-flakes falling fast,     And the little form of my nursling         With his arms around me cast.     They laid his tiny garment         In an attic chamber high,     His coral, his empty cradle,         That they might not meet my eye;     And his name was never uttered,         What e'er each heart might feel,     For they wished the wound in my bosom         Might have tune to close and heal.     It has done so thanks to that Power         That has been my earthly stay,     And should you talk of my darling,         I could listen now all day,     For I know that each passing minute         Brings me nearer life's last shore,     And nearer that glorious Kingdom         Where we both shall meet once more!