Historic leaves, volume 2, April, 1903 - January, 1904

Of the poems manifestly personal, many deal with the losses of life. A religious note is heard in these. For example, the lost little children are remembered in ‘Doubting and Blessing’:—

I sit beside the window, gazing after-
     The little feet
That come and go, 'mid bursts of merry laughter,
     Along the street.

But soon, along the winding highway dying,
     The voices pass;
I hear, instead, the low wind faintly sighing
     Among the grass.

So years ago—Oh, years how long and weary!
     Out from my day
Others as young, as laughing, bright, and cheery,
     Vanished away.

Alas! no children were they of the stranger-
     Like these, unknown;
By life's supremest agony and danger
     They were my own!

I gave them birth; my yearning heart kept saying,
     'Mid joyful tears,
How they will love me, every pain repaying,
     In coming years.

I fondly watched their growth in strength and beauty
     From day to day;
I gently led them in the path of duty
     A little way;

And then they left me!-did I say forever?
     O, untrue word!
Will they not be mine own again, where never
     Farewells are heard?