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Show IN DONEGAL. I was the mother of six, and joy Sang in my heart like a bird in air; Tall and ruddy was each fair boy, And Life was golden and Hope was fair. Then as manhood stretched out a hand Fast the tides of the swift years flow! Fortune called from the Western land, And one and another I saw them go. One and another till five had flown, But still I sat with a heart resigned; re-signed; ..ever my lips made sigh or moan, For the youngest and dearest staid behind; Then at last came a woeful day, Black was the sun and the sky to me They wooed the last from his home away. And he went to his brother across the sea. Gifts they sent me, and gold galore; Word they wrote me of wealth and fame ; Honor they brought to the name they bore; But the dark of my heart was still the same. I stormed the gates of Heaven with prayer! And ever across the ocean's track I sent the cry of my soul's despair: "Let him come back! Let him come back!" I can watch his sleep from my open door. O answer cruel! O answer knid! For now for ever and evermore My youngest and dearest stays behind. be-hind. Mary Elizabeth Blake, from "In the Harbor of Hope." |