O lovely child! I said, "by lone hearth staying,
Thou'lt make the widow's home a pleasant place."

The little one, thy comfort in affliction,
With the sweet face earnest and innocent;
That was to thee like Heaven's benediction,
Such children for a little while are lent.

Pilgrims and strangers are we in our praying,
But birds of passage to a brighter shore;
Yet build our nests as if for ever staying,
We and our treasures, here for evermore

But when our nestlings by the Master taken
Up in God's Paradise to safely sing;
And by the empty nest we wail forsaken,
In the great loneliness of suffering.

We lift our tearful eyes in sorrow's blindness,
And cry to him for very helplessness,
Then He reveals to us His loving kindness,
Even in bereavements 'tis His will to bless

He says "Look up," that we may cease our crying,
Seeing our treasures in glad safety there,
And there our hearts will be--for upward flying
In longing love, they cast off earthly care

Thy home is silent all the rippling laughter,
The sound of racing feet at play, is fled,