Poems (Odom)/Little Children

LITTLE CHILDREN.

God bless the little children,
The little boys and girls,
With rosy cheeks and laughing eyes,
And floating, sunny curls.

The pretty roguish dimples
A smile will bring about;
And lips like parted rosebuds,
Or folded in a pout.

Dear, loving little children,
With hearts as pure as dew,
With honest eyes that look in ours,
So fearless, bright, and true.

Our lives are nobler, better,
Brightened by these human flowers,
And we hold them so much dearer,
For these little lives of ours.

A simple child may lead us
To the heights of faith sublime;
Or a baby's dimpled fingers
Draw a man away from crime.

A mother's soul is purer
For the soul her own has borne,
And her breast a sacred altar
For the jewel it has worn.

And when we lay our darlings
Down to sleep beneath the sod;
The little folded fingers clasp
Us closer to our God.

Then we turn all sorrow-stricken
From this weary world of sin
To follow up the stairway
Where those little feet have been.

They make life fairer, sweeter,
With their innocence and love;
They sanctify "God's Acre,"
And they gem His court above.

We welcome little children
To our hearts with bended knees,
Thanking God that He should trust us
With the care of such as these.