Poems (Smith)/A Mother's Sorrow

by Martha A. Smith

A MOTHER'S SORROW.

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"Have you no welcome for me, mamma?"
 Came in accents soft and sweet,
Trembling from the dear one's lips
 As home she came to greet.

Oh, could she know the pain of heart
 Her mother had endured,—
That tender cord once torn apart
 Can never be restored.

To a heart that's dead unto the core
 Warm love can ne'er return;
The light put out for ever more
 Again will never burn.

The flower blooms not if torn apart,
 No germ from it can shoot;
Joy ne'er returns unto the heart,
 When dead unto its root.

And now, my darling, ere we part,
 With earnest, heartfelt prayer,
Ask God this agony of heart
 May not leave us in despair.

"Have you no welcome for me, mamma?"
 Came in accents sweet and low,
From the lips of one I've prayed so for,
 Since she from me did go,—

That ere the close of this mortal strife
 God would again restore
To my perishing, lonely, freezing life,
 Love like this once more.

"Have you no welcome for me, mamma?"
 Oh, could you but search the heart,
Or know the bitter tears I've shed,
 Since last we two did part.

A mother's love dieth not, my child,
 Although her heart may break.
All will be right in Heaven above,
 When our spirits there awake.

"Have you no welcome for me, mamma?"
 Goes ringing through the heart,
That will ne'er warm with love again,
 Until from earth we part.

I've nothing left to wish for now
 But a little spot of ground,
And a welcome to my home above,
 Where joy and love abound.

"Have you no welcome for me, mamma?"
 I replied with a broken heart—
Take what is left of a blighted life,
 Ere from earth we part.

This fleeting life hath lost its charm,
 And hearts so sorely riven,
Will ne'er know peace and love again
 Until they rest in Heaven.