Time is swiftly flying,
Waken from thy dreaming.
“While thy mouth is smiling,
And thy blue eyes beaming,
While the sun is shining,
Tell us of thy dreaming.”
Then the child awakened; and he told the flowers how angels sat each side of him, and sang to him of his mother and sisters, who lived in heaven, and how happy they were; and how beautiful heaven was, and how he might go there and live; this made him feel very happy. But then the angels told him, with sweet, sad voices, how naughty he was, and how much he must do to be good enough to live in heaven; and his heart sank, and he feared that he never should see his dear mother again. Then he wept;—but soon he felt on his brow other tears, and he looked up, and saw the angels weeping. Then they sang to him again:—
“Weep not, weep not, darling child,
We are ever near thee,
And, ’mid all the ills around,