The female was evidently singing to a child, for occasionally she would pause to express some words of endearment to the little one, and then resume her song.
The few short lines of which the song was composed came fully to Gray, and there was a something about their very simplicity and innocence that rooted him to the spot, although they brought agony to his heart:
The Mother’s Choice.
“My babe, if I had offers three,
From gentle heavenly powers,
To bless thee, who, with aching heart,
I’ve watched so many hours,
I’d choose that gift should make thee great
In true nobility—
That greatness of the soul which leaves