THE CHILD GOD GAVE

“Give me a little child

To draw this dreary want out of my breast,”

I cried to God.

“Give, for my days beat wild

With loneliness that will not rest

But under the still sod!”

It came — with groping lips

And little fingers stealing aimlessly

About my heart.

I was like one who slips

A-sudden into Ecstasy

And thinks ne'er to depart.

“Soon he will smile,” I said,

“And babble baby love into my ears —

How it will thrill!”

I waited — Oh, the dread,

The clutching agony, the fears!—

He was so strange and still.

Did I curse God and rave

When they came shrinkingly to tell me‘ twas

A witless child?

No... I... I only gave

One cry... just one... I think... because...

You know... he never smiled.