My way was stopped, as I hurried on,
A carriage pass'd--and again 'twas clear,
But my glance took in the tiny box,
And the mourners bending near.
"Only a baby"--was lightly said--
As I safely crossed the street,
But my heart went with the little group,
With their darling at their feet.
"Only a baby,"--God but knows
The mother's bleeding heart;
And the father's white, sad face would tell,
How hard it is to part.
"Only a baby!" what a void,
In a merry, cheery home;
An empty cradle, a half worn shoe;
And a mother's broken tone.
"Only a baby!" the aching eyes
Look out on the busy street,
And fall on other laughing babes,
And the silent form at her feet.
"Only a baby!" a desolate home,
Those stricken hearts will know,
When they lay their darling down to rest,
'Neath the willows bending low.
"Only a baby!" how cold it seemed
To speak of the angel near,--
My heart went after the snowy form.
For its parents I breathed a prayer:
"Only a baby!" ah, the weary day
And the sleepless night,
The feverish longing--the aching heart--
For the baby gone from sight!
"Only a baby!" the heart sobs out,
What hopes lie shatter'd here,
The broken bud--the tiny frame,
An angel hovering near.
"Only a baby!"--the years creep by--
'Twill ever be, tho' locks be gray;
Growing no older--only their babe;
As years before it passed away.