Poems (Blake)/Our Angel

OUR ANGEL.
Seventeen months our wee white maidGrew in the sunshine fair and sweet,Till the dearest music of life was playedBy the touch of her hands and the fall of her feet;Then as the dawn of the April dayWooed new life to the winter sod,Our little white maiden turned away,And went to dwell in the smile of God.
Ah well! we know the fairest yearsOf the brightest future ever we plannedAre dark with sorrow and pain and tearsCompared with the joy of that blissful land.But O for the woe of the empty hands,And the longing heart, and the tear-dimmed eyes,Trying to reach where our darling stands,And follow her footsteps in Paradise.
Little white angel up in heavenSafe in His arms whose smile is Love, Does the wailing cry of our fond hearts rivenRing through the peace of the courts above?Does the shadow of grief, like a vague surprise,Reach through the glory around the throne,Drawing thy grave, sweet, earnest eyesDown through the worlds to meet our own?
You cannot answer back, my Sweet,But One who came down to us long agoGathered the children about His feet,And taught us the lesson we fain would know,That if but a glimpse of the light aboveCould flash for a moment on earth's dull pain,We'd lose all else that is ours to love,Rather than beckon thee back again.
'T is not forever we say farewell,—Child of our heart, so pure, so fair!We will kiss the lips we have loved so well,And play with the rings of the soft brown hair;For I know when my soul in the silence waitsThe wonderful kingdom of God to see,Down like a star through the beautiful gatesMy little white angel will come to me.