Songs by the Way, by George Washington Doane (1860)

Project Canterbury

"Songs by the Way"
The Poetical Writings of the Right Rev. George Washington Doane, D.D., LL.D.

Arranged and Edited by His Son, William Croswell Doane

New York: D. Appleton, 1860.

THE FIRST CHRISTMAS,
WITHOUT MY MOTHER.

"One who mourneth for his mother."

SWEET Mother, eight and fifty years,
     Thy Christmas blessings crowned my brow;
Thy seat is vacant, by my side;
     And Christmas comes, without thee, now.

A shadow creeps, across my hearth;
     The cypress twines the holly-bough;
I cannot frame the Christmas phrase:
     For Christmas comes, without thee, now.

Along the line of threescore years,
     In gifts and prayers, like tracks in snow,
I trace thy ever-living love:
     But Christmas comes, without thee, now.

And yet, sweet Mother, though the thought
     Will choke and tear, my bursting breast;
And tears o'ercast this joyous day;
     I would not call thee, from thy rest.

Safe in the Paradise of God,
     Thy home is with the holy dead;
Where Christmas boughs are ever green;
     And the Christ-feast is always spread.

CHRISTMAS, 1858.

Project Canterbury