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They Wandered Forth
- Syracuse University Press
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WOM A N | 101 Rap your soft knuckles and exclaim, “Don’t touch!” I’ll tell you what you ought to learn, and so, A mother’s instinct-guided love I’ll show. An ordinary child at best, So neighbors tell; Not very large and strong, not very well; A victim to the measles and the croup, Fevers that flush and chill, and coughs that whoop; To unknown naughtiness and well-known pain; No racial progress25 here—no special gain! But I, your mother, see with other eyes; I hold you second to none under skies, This estimate, unbased on any fact, Shall teach you how to feel and how to act, Shall make you wise, and true, and strong, and so, A mother’s instinct-guided love I’ll show. They Wandered Forth They wandered forth in springtime woods, Three women, thickly hung With yards and yards of woollen goods— To play that they were young! The river raced with the racing air; The woods were wild with song; The glad birds darted everywhere— And so they walked along! Stiff-bodied, fat, oppressed with cloth, Dull-colored, sad to see, Slow-moving over the bright grass, Their shapeless shadows fall and pass, And dreaming not—alas! alas! Of what dear light might be! Baby Love Baby Love came prancing by, Cap on head and sword on thigh, Horse to ride and drum to beat,— All the world beneath his feet. Mother Life was sitting there, Hard at work and full of care, Set of mouth and sad of eye. Baby Love came prancing by. ...