When the bedtime shadows fall,
I'm always sure of this,
Just as I'm drifting off to dreams,
I feel my Mother's kiss.
Mary Stanhope
DECEMBER TWELFTH
Grandma's Prayer
I pray that, risen from the dead,
I may in glory stand—
A crown, perhaps, upon my head
But a needle in my hand.
I've never learned to sing or play,
So let no harp be mine;
From birth unto my dying day,
Plain sewing's been my line.
Therefore, accustomed to the end
To plying useful stitches,
I'll be content if asked to mend
The little Angels' breeches.
Eugene Field
DECEMBER THIRTEENTH
The studying child has all the needs of a creating
artist. He must breathe pure air; his body must be
at ease; he must have things to look at and be able
to change his thoughts at will by enjoying form and
color.
George Sand
DECEMBER FOURTEENTH
At one dear knee we proffered vows,
One lesson from one book we learned,
Ere childhood's flaxen ringlets turned
To black and brown on kindred brows.
Tennyson
DECEMBER FIFTEENTH
Art thou not a sunbeam,
Child, whose life is glad,
With an inner radiance
Sunshine never had?
Lucy Larcom