My mother! when I learned that thou wast dead,
Say, wast thou conscious of the tears I shed?
I heard the bells tolled on thy burial day,
I saw the hearse that bore thee slow away;
And, turning from my nursery window, drew
A long, long sigh, and wept a last adieu!
Thus many a sad to-morrow came and went,
Till, all my stock of infant sorrow spent,
I learned at last submission to my lot:
But though I less deplored thee, ne'er forgot.
--_Cowper._
1411
An ounce of mother is worth more than a pound of clergy.
--_Spanish Proverb._
1412