Mother Came To Kiss Me

In the niiiiiy ri'i'iillfi-tkms that He scattereJ turough the years Are some that tind me smlllng and some that inake me weep. Uut the neaivst oue, the dearest one, beitiiu'iit-d with smiles and tears. Is wtaea mother came to kiss me before I went to sleep. Wheu 1 lay awake and listened In the Slowly deepening gloom Until I heard her footstep come softly up the stair Wlicii the knowledge of her presence seemed to light the somber room, Anl the very thought of mother- was in ltself a prayer. The co l, wlilto hands that lingered, the loving linger-tips That in the darkness found me, and rested on niy brow. The star i y eyes that sought me, and thcn her dewy Ups That clung to mine so purely- I eeem to feel them now. "Our Father" - '-N'ow I lay me"- and "Hallowed be Thy name. " These wonls are as a mi ckery, an echo from the dead, Yet tht-y sounded so familiar in the days wlien mother came 'l'hrongh the shadows, like an angel, to s'.and be-lde my bed. Peocavl! Aye! Peccavi. tlius the volee of conscience rings As au echo's sound Is wafte 1 o'er the bosom of the deep, Yet somewhere. In the after days, a waiting siron slngs Of Death, who comes to kiss us before wc go to sleep. Stlll in my soul is living what late can ne'er destroy; A light from out the days gone by that sorrow cannot dim, When love lioUls up in fancy's guise a perfect cup of joy. Where lieaded memories gather, all smiling, at thu rim. 1 drink to happy moiuents that never fade away Whlfh blossomlng in my heart of hearts, their fragrance alway.s keep, Deur God? when in my innocence, a little boy I lay And mother came to kiss me before I went tu sleep.