How bitter is the thought that I, thy child,

Remember not the touch, the look, the tone,

Which made my young life thrill—that I alone

Forget the face that o’er my cradle smil’d!

And yet I know that if a sudden light

Reveal’d thy living likeness, I should find

That my poor heart hath pictur’d thee aright.

So I will wait, nor think the lot unkind

That hides thee from me, till I know by sight

The perfect face thro’ love on earth divin’d.