"Time passes, my _baby_ has suddenly flown,
And left me a daughter to maidenhood grown.
As _I_ did, e'en so does my bonny maid do,
And--learns that sweet lesson so old and so new.
"For _her_ comes a day when the wedding bells ring,
And my darling to other than 'mother' must cling.
Like mother, like daughter,' 'like father, like son,'
'Tis an adage will live till all living be done."
Grandma pauses a moment. Her listener cries,
With a sweet look of sympathy in her young eyes:
"And then you were lonely, poor Grandma! I know,
But so was--my _great_ grandmama, long ago."
A smile lights the dear, aged face, and again
Grandma takes up her story. "Yes, dearie, but then
It wasn't for long, because, darling, you see,
A gift _I_ once gave was soon given to me.
[Illustration: "_Learns that sweet lesson so old and so new_"]
"The gift of a grandchild as fair and as sweet
As the baby _my_ mother's heart bounded to meet;
Oh, how my fond prayers 'rose in gratitude true,
For the blessings of daughter and granddaughter too!
"It seems but to-day! Oh, how proud am I now
As I lay welcome kisses on baby's wee brow!
A _Grandmother, I?_ How the bright years have flown
Since I was a child scarce to maidenhood grown!
"And now in my arms, looking up in my eyes,
With orbs that are bluer than June's sunny skies,
Behold my own grandchild! Ah, verily, youth
'On double wings flies,' Grandpa says in good truth,
"As he looks in my face where no longer the rose
In my once dimpled cheeks in its loveliness grows,
And marks the white locks mingling faster each day
With the brown that old Time is fast stealing away.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25