Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.
Katharine Tynan Hinkson b. 186The Sad Mother
O
Wild shadows on the floor,
How ghostly come the withered leaves
Stealing about my door!
Lone in the lonely house;
Naught breaks the silence still as death,
Only a creeping mouse.
But liker patter of feet,
The small feet of my own baby
That never felt the heat.
Cold as the graveyard sod;
My little, dumb, unchristened one
That may not win to God.
Opening the door so wide.
The leaves go stealing softly by;
How dark it is outside!
Long on the threshold-stone,
The little feet press on their way,
And I am ever alone.