_Two little children, weeping sore,
Went wandering, sorely down the street,
Poor waifs upon life's stormy shore
With shivering forms and naked feet.
And when they met me, as they saw
Their woe had touched my sympathies,
The oldest turned to me and cried:
"Oh, do you know where Heaven is?_
_"Our father died a year ago,
And mother told us, when he died,
That he had crossed a river deep,
And Heaven was on the other side.
And when we asked her where he was,
She always said: "In Heaven, I know";
And told us we could go to him.
O, tell us, tell us, where to go!_
_"Dear mother died a week ago,
And Robbie cries for her all day.
We want to go where mother is,
Is Heaven so very far away?"
O, plaint of little sorrowing hearts!
Earth's universal cry is this,
That you' ve so learned to ask:
Who knows, who knows, where Heaven is?_
_Poor little seekers after Heaven!
Poor little waifs on life's bleak shore!
Some day your feet will find the way
That gives you back your lost once more.
The only answer I can give
To any question such as this
From those who miss a mother's face
Is: Heaven is where that mother is!_