Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1900-02-09
WHEN The SON HAD THE DEED.

''owiy the toil-cramped, gnarled old fist
wrought at the sheet with a m snir o mem.
oaileu win tremulous Quirk and twist
staggered, and then went on again
Ahe wan sun peeped through tae wea
patched pane
ana checkered the floor where pale seams
shone '''N ANS
10 quaint old kitchen down In Maine.
WIN an ola man writing there alone
'u sne pen wrought on and the heat
dropped low
And a tear FLASHED down on the rusted
nen,
AS IL traced verse of the long ago
iha' MS grief had bought to his heart
BE kind to thy &ther, for when thou vast
Who loved thee so fond,y as he?
de caught the first accents that fell from
thy tongue,
Ana Joined in thy innocent glee.
6e Kind 10 thy father. for Row ne Is old.
his LOCKS intermingled with gray.
Ills footsteps are feeble, once fearless and
bold
Thy father is passing away.
''Be kind to thy mother. for, 10, on her brow
May traces of sorrow be seen.
on, well nayst thou cherish and comfort
her now,
For loving and kind hath she been.
Remember thy mother, for thee she will
pray
AS long as God giveth her breath
with accents OF kindness; then cheer her
hard way
Fen through the dark valley of death"
Listlessly thrashed in careless court.
The poor. pain tale OF home was told,
Furnishing food for the lawyers sport
And jest al the fond and the foolish old.
Ihe counsel said, as he winked an eye:
Decided the farm TO their only son;
And after twas decided they didn't die
Qnlte as quick as they should have done"
prearily dragged the homely case,
Petty and mean in al! its parts
quest through the law for an old homo
place,
But never a word Of two broken hearts
Only suit where the son and wife
Pledged themselves. when they coaxed
the deed.
To comfort the close of the old folks life:
Only another case where greed
Sneered at the toll of the hard hard years
or martyrdom to the hoe and ak,
Writ in wrinkles and etched In tears
And told in the curve of the old bent
backs,
Bent In the strife with the rocky soil.
When the grinding work was never done,
With just ore rift in the cloud of toll
Twas all for the sake Of their only son.
Simply tedious legal maze
With neighbors stirring the thing for
sport,
And loungers eying with liHtles9 gaze
This queer old couple dragged TO court.
Meekly they would have granted greed
All that 1t sought for-a!l It's spoil;
little they valued forfeit deed,
Nor selashly reckoned their years of toll,
Heartsick they while the lawyers urged,
Mute when the law vouchsafed their
prayer
Courts soothed not such grief as surged
In the hearts Of the old folks trembling
there.
What though the jury's word restored
The walls and roof of the old home place?
Would it give them back the blessed hoard
or trust that knew no sons disgrace?
Would It give them back his boyhood
smiles,
His boyhood love. their simple joy?
Would 1t heal the wounds of these after
whiles,
And make him again their own dear boy ?
Would II soothe the smart of the cruel
words,
OF sullen looks and cold neglect?
And dull the taun.s that pierced Ike swords
And slashed where the wielders little
rocked?
No: justice gives the walls and roof,
To palsed hands a Cancelled deed,
Rebuking with a stein reproof
A sons urfilial, shameless greed.
But love that made that old home warm.
Ard hope that made all labor sweet,
The glow of peace that shamed the storm
And melted on the pane the sleet,
And faith and truth and loving hearts
And tender trust In fcllow-men-
All, these, my friend, no lawyers arts
Can give again, can give again.
Holman Day, In Lewiston Journal.