.Vnd  I  am  thirty-three  !


HAMILTON  AIDE.  339

And  when  my  back  is  bent  with  years,

And  I  no  longer  sing,
And  she  hath  known  the  cares  and  tears

That  hfe  must  surely  bring,
I  know  her  loving  heart  will  hold

A  tender  thought  of  me,
In  days  wien  she  was  six  years  old,

And  I  was  thirty-three.
Hamilton  Aide.
340  ALFRED'  AUSTIN.
MY  BABY.
{Eve's  Song  in  "  Prince  Liiciferi')

White  little  hands !

Pink  little  feet !
Dimpled  all  over,

Sweet,  sweet,  sweet !
What  dost  thou  wail  for  ?

The  unknown,  the  unseen  ?
The  ills  that  are  coming.
The  joys  that  have  been  ?


Cling  to  me  closer,

Closer  and  closer,
Till  the  pain  that  is  purer

Hath  banished  the  grosser.
Drain,  drain  at  the  stream,  love,

Thy  hunger  is  freeing.
That  was  born  in  a  dream,  love,

Along  with  thy  being.
Little  fingers  that  feel

For  their  home  on  my  breast  ;■
Little  lips  that  appeal

For  their  nurture,  their  rest !
Why,  why  dost  thou  weep,  dear  ?

Nay,  stifle  thy  cries.
Till  the  dew  of  thy  sleep,  dear,

Lies  soft  on  thine  eyes.
Alfred  Aicstin.
CHRISTINA   ROSSETTL  341

JOHNNY.
{Fpunded  on  an  Anecdote  in  the  Fhst  French  Revolution.)

Johnny  had  a  golden  head

Like  a  golden  mop  in  blow,
Right  and  left  his  curls  would  spread

In  a  glory  and  a  glow,
And  they  framed  his  honest  face
Like  stray  sunbeams  out  of  place.
Long  and  thick,  they  half  could  hide

How  threadbare  his  patched  jacket  hung ;

They  used  to  be  his  mother's  pride ;
She  praised  them  with  a  tender  tongue,

And  stroked  them  with  a  loving  finger.
That  smoothed  and  stroked  and  loved  to  linger.
