My sweet little girl should be cheerful and mild
She must not be fretful and cry!
Oh! why is this passion? remember, my child,
GOD sees you, who lives in the sky.
That dear little face, that I like so to kiss,
How alter'd and sad it appears!
Do you think I can love you so naughty as this,
Or kiss you, all wetted with tears?
Remember, though GOD is in Heaven, my love,
He sees you within and without,
And always looks down, from His glory above,
To notice what you are about.
If I am not with you, or if it be dark,
And nobody is in the way,
His eye is as able your doings to mark,
In the night as it is in the day.
Then dry up your tears and look smiling again,
And never do things that are wrong;
For I'm sure you must feel it a terrible pain,
To be naughty and crying so long.
We'll pray, then, that GOD may your passion forgive,
And teach you from evil to fly;
And then you'll be happy as long as you live,
And happy whenever you die.
The meter seems to be one iambic foot (unstressed, stressed) followed by a Anapest trimester (unstressed, unstressed, stressed * 3) . I think, correct me if I’m wrong. I’m not Religious so I’m not particularly moved by the piety of the poem, but I admire someone who can write with that complex a meter.
We'll pray, then, that GOD may your passion forgive, And teach you from evil to fly; And then you'll be happy as long as you live, And happy whenever you die. //// die on the forgiveness of God/// superb poem penned
I really like Ann Taylor poetry. Poetry from a mother to a little child. This is so beautiful.
This poem has not been translated into any other language yet.
I would like to translate this poem
Such a beautiful poem, loved the last two stanzas particularly. The poem gets full marks from me,5 stars *****! Glad to see this poem selected as the 'Classic Poem of the Day' and congratulations to the poetess, posthumously.