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Stedman and Hutchinson, comps. A Library of American Literature:
An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891.
Vols. IX–XI: Literature of the Republic, Part IV., 1861–1889

Transition

By Stephen Decatur Smith, Jr. (b. 1861)

[Born in Philadelphia, Penn., 1861.]

HER eyes looked out across this world of ours—

Seen through her lashes as a silken veil—

Wondering that striving mortals e’er could fail,

Startled to see the earth bear aught but flowers.

And all her senses seemed to watch and wait

For something that would touch and stir them all,

And something, lifeless yet, to being call;

She wished it come, yet, timid, feared her fate.

And ere she knew the name of Love, one day

(All flushed her cheek, and tear-bedewed her eyes,)

He kissed her lips. With tender, sweet surprise

The woman lived—the child had passed away.

Hallo, My Fancy! 1887.