Poems (Emma M. Ballard Bell)/Little Lillie

LITTLE LILLIE.

Gently sunset's golden shadow
With a glory soft and mild,
On the lowly couch was streaming
Of a little dying child.

But she did not see the sunlight
Gleaming from the western skies;
For the light had long since faded
From her once bright, beaming eyes.

By the bedside sat the mother,
Clasping Lillie's thin, white hand,
While in gentle tones she told her
Of the far-off better land.

By a window stood the cradle,
Where a little brother slept;
And a fair and dark-eyed sister,
By the cradle knelt and wept.

"Take me in your arms, my mother,"
Then the little maiden said,
"With your kind hand gently resting
Once again upon my head.

"Place it lightly, O my mother,
On my weary, aching brow;
Oh, I soon must leave you, mother,
Death is stealing o'er me now.

"It hath seemed a long night, mother,
Since I saw the light of day;
Is there any night, dear mother,
In that land so far away?

"Tell me, O my gentle mother!
Tell me, in that better land
Will the holy, white-robed angels
Come and take me by the hand?

"Oh, my spirit sees them coming!
And their brows are crowned with light,
And they whisper, oh, so softly!
That in heaven there'll be no night.

"Gentle sister, thou art weeping,
Though I cannot see thy tears;
Do not grieve for me, my sister,
For my spirit feels no fears.

"Farewell, mother, sister, brother;
When in heaven we all unite,
I with spirit-eyes shall see you,
And in heaven there'll be no night."

******

In the quiet village churchyard
Is a little mossy grave,
And the branches of a willow
Sad and silent o'er it wave.

There is sleeping little Lillie,
While upon her tombstone white
Are her dying words engraven,—
"And in heaven there'll be no night."