A thousand infant faces, soft and sweet,

Each year sends forth, yet every mother views

Her last not least beloved

Like its dear self alone.

Its musing mind hath ever yet foreshaped

The face to-morrow’s sun shall first reveal,

No heart hath e’er conceived

What love that face will bring.

O sleep, my babe, nor heed how mourns the gale

To part with thy soft locks and fragrant breath,