Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1861-03-13

Tearing up garments all worn and old,
Whieh erst had sheltered from heat and col
The hoasehold loves IN the by-goRe time
When they were all new. and in their prime
Nv thoughts went back to those vanished year:
Their loves, their labors, their hopes and fear:
touched not garment, but brought to mind
Some pleasure or pain, long left behind;
And busy memory would oft beguile
The starting tear with passing smile,-
Linking life's bitterest heur of pain,
To its sweetest by golden chain.
So closely mingled with joy and grief,
The darken'd moments so few and brief,
That I thought-and hummed my thought
Aloud,
There's silver lining to ev'ry cloud
Firsszcause the tiniest slip of red,
That used 10 lie in my cradle bed,
But. folded away 'mong forgotten cloths
At last it was ruined by wicked moths.
The relic unrolled, seemed to see
My growing baby upon my knee,
With his clear blue eye and golden hair,
And the rosy cheek to me so fairl
j
Had Ger him swept with their smiles and tears.
And my pet had grown to a stalwart child,
With bounding step and spirit wild;
Yet ever as joyful and full of glee,
Asin the dgys of his infancy;
paused mid my work. with a mothers care,
And sent up to heaven the anxious prayer,
"ohi keep him Fatherl as pure and true,
As he was when this tiny frock was new"
Then came a tnoie of blEe and brown,
Which. so torn and tattered up and down,
Had fettered the limbs Of rOguish elf,
Who said, "The tunic Just tore ITSELF"
Hes'oniy climbed through the thorny pear
To see if the cat-bird's nest was there.
Twas the sticks that tore it through and thrO'.
And mother. the eggs are black and blue"
NY darling boyl may no impulse strong.
E'sr lead him into the ways of wrong,
Till conscience, torn, like this simple dress,
Is cast aside for its worthlessnessl
These pants SO faded, with patch so bright,
Call up before me a proud young wight
Who disdained to wear the patch to school
Soplayed the truant and "broke the rule"
And wandered all day by the river side,
Pierced by the winds and pained by his pride,
And came home at night with an aching head,
To throw himself wearily on his bed,
Where parched with fever for weeks he lay,
Painting his bright young life away;
While DER his bed with fear bent.
Till the fell disease i4s force had spent,
q L. L aF,
He erose and sent to has sports again.
Was it wise 70 force my spirited child
To meet the jeers of his eOmrads wild:
His young and sensitive heart 10 string
with bitterpain for so small thingf
This next was froek, so short and trim
With its corded belt, and bodice priml
1t called up girl in her sportive glee,
With footsteps flying all light and free,
Her brown locks tOss'd by the morning breeze,
As she shook the ripe fruit from the trees,
Or hunted the red pinks on the hill;
= Or violets downSg the meadow rill;
Or bounded with white feet through the stream
Where pebbles lay in the silE'gy beam;
The lamb. by the broOkside sporting free,
W oS uOS Hfotc cAoplsy AaoAS pdAS eA@ii ShS.
But there came time when vorldlings cold,
In her young ear whispered, You're growing
old;
You must lay your girlish frOcks aside,
And pat on the flowing robes Of pride;
Must fetter your streaming hair with bands,
And shelter With gloves your dImpled hands.
Must hide with bushes the frank free faee,.
Aud learn to move with more studied grace;
Must Sc no more on The tutors knee,
Or dare soitk Willie and Frank be free.
Remember, you'se most a 1r0man nOuo,
How the dark elondfell on that fair browi
Suspeiion and doubt, like frost in June
Were whitening life's roses all too soon.
Thought to myself. as stnppedsway,
So custom is chilling US all to dap
took up another. A throb of pain
Shot through my heart and through my brain.
saw my restless, my fearless child
Standing erect, on the steed SO wild,
Joyously tossing his arms about,
Leaving his playmates with cheering shout
] cried in my terror, "oh hAve earel"
A shrek of anguish came on the air,
Ny heart beat wildly; my eye grew dim
As they bore him in with broken limb.
Isais to my quiy'ring nerves be strong.
With will that waitSth and watcheth long:
FOrH mothers heart must never fail
Though her eyo grow dim and her lip grow
pale;
Her love and patience can nerve her on
Till the task is finished, the duty done.
Ny boy got well and that broken limb
Proved a teacher stern of good to him.
He learned that pleasures treacherous steed,
Must be firmly held, in its onward speed.
Lest it fly the track, on the course of life,
And plunge its rider in pain and strife.
Long years have passed since that trying hour,
The broken arm has regained its power,
1nd the stalwart frame, and spirit true,
Have the nerve to dare, and the hand to do;
Nor shrinks he ever, by day or night,
When conscience points, to the way ofright.
All, ha! these garments so worn all DER.
Hold of memories good and bad q score.
Every crease and seam is marked with fun,
Some eomieal word, or action done,
By waggish boy, whose laughing eye
Danced wildly with misehefs witehery.
He neDeT-not he-was a BIT to blame
His tongue the ready excuse could frame,
He "eOuid not tell, it was very queer,
The horse he took such sudden sheer
And then he pitied the shivering girls,
And shook the snow from their tangled eurls.
And patted their cheeks, and wondered when
The like of it would happen agaihl
Ny boy. my bOyi may his merry mood