Remembering Golden Bells

Ruined and ill—a man of two score; Pretty and guileless—a girl of three. Not a boy—but still better than nothing: To soothe one’s feeling—from time to time a kiss! There came a day—they suddenly took her from me; Her soul’s shadow wandered I know not where. And when I remember how just at the time she died She lisped strange sounds, beginning to learn to talk, Then I know that the ties of flesh and blood Only bind us to a load of grief and sorrow. At last, by thinking of the time before she was born, By thought and reason I drove the pain away. Since my heart forgot her, many days have passed And three times winter has changed to spring. This morning, for a little, the old grief came back, Because, in the road, I met her foster-nurse