We've Had a Letter From the Boy

We've had a letter from the boy,

And oh, the gladness and the joy

It brought to us! We read it o'er

I'd say a dozen times or more.

We laughed until the teardrops fell

At all the fun he had to tell.

He's in the navy, wearing blue,

And everything is all so new

That he can see in youthful style

The funny things to make us smile.

He's working hard! Between the lines

We gather that. The brass he shines

Without complaining, and the food

He gets to eat is very crude.

And yet he laughs at all his chores.

He says the maid who scrubs our floors

Will have to quit when he returns

Unless a better way she learns.

“I've got it on the fairer sex,”

Says he, “since I am swabbing decks.”

“A sailor's life, dear Mom,” writes he,

“Is not the life you picked for me.

And yet I'm getting fat and strong

And learning as I go along

That any life a man can find

Is apt to grow to be a grind

Unless a fellow has the wit

To see the brighter side of it.

Do n't worry for your sailor son;

He sleeps well when his work is done.”

We've had a letter from the boy,

And oh, the gladness and the joy

It brought to us!‘ Twas good to know

That he is facing duty so.

Between the lines that he had penned

His mother's bitter fears to end,

I saw his manhood glowing bright,

And now I know his heart is right.

Behind the laughter I could see

My boy's the man I'd hoped he'd be.