Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry. 1904.
Poems of Home: I. About ChildrenThe Happy Hour
Mary Frances Butts (18901937)T
The household work is done;
The cares that fret the morning
Have faded with the sun;
And in the tender twilight,
I sit in happy rest,
With my precious rosy baby
Asleep upon my breast.
Shut out the waning light;
A little hand close folded,
Holds mamma’s fingers tight;
And in their soft white wrappings,
At last in perfect rest,
Two dainty feet are cuddled,
Like birdies in a nest.
Fade out at this sweet hour;
All pure and noble longings
Renew their holy power;
For Christ, who in the Virgin
Our motherhood has blest,
Is near to every woman
With a baby on her breast.