Mother's Loss Poem by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Mother's Loss

Rating: 3.2


If I could clasp my little babe
Upon my breast to-night,
I would not mind the blowing wind
That shrieketh in affright.
Oh, my lost babe! my little babe,
My babe with dreamful eyes;
Thy bed is cold; and night wind bold
Shrieks woeful lullabies.

My breast is softer than the sod;
This room, with lighter hearth,
Is better place for thy sweet face
Than frozen mother eatrth.
Oh, my babe! oh, my lost babe!
Oh, babe with waxen hands,
I want thee so, I need thee so -
Come from thy mystic lands!

No love that, like a mother's fills
Each corner of the heart;
No loss like hers, that rends, and chills,
And tears the soul apart.
Oh, babe - my babe, my helpless babe!
I miss thy little form.
Would I might creep where thou dost sleep,
And clasp thee through the storm.

I hold thy pillow to my breast,
To bring a vague relief;
I sing the songs that soothed thy rest -
Ah me! no cheating grief.
My breathing babe! my sobbing babe!
I miss thy plaintive moan,
I cannot hear - thou art not near -
My little one, my own.

Thy father sleeps. He mourns thy loss,
But little fathers know
The pain that makes a mother toss
Through sleepless nights of woe.
My clinging babe! my nursing babe!
What knows thy father - man -
How my breasts miss thy lips' soft kiss -
None but a mother can.

Worn out, I sleep; I wake - I weep -
I sleep - hush, hush, my dear;
Sweet lamb, fear not - Oh, God! I thought -
I thought my babe was here.

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Mysterious Writer 333 14 May 2016

My poor heart. So sad. No person could mourn like how a mother mourns over a lost child. Beautiful.

1 0 Reply
Sranisha Francis 14 May 2016

Oh, Wounderfull, beautifully nareted The pain that makes a mother toss Through sleepless nights of woe.

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Robyn Elliman 11 August 2015

Wonderful read.So sad is the loss of a babe.

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Alem Hailu G/kristos 14 May 2016

What a tearjerker poem crafted by a master poet!

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Melissa Patty 26 July 2016

Absolutely captivating! Beautiful

2 0 Reply
Ratnakar Mandlik 14 May 2016

Lamenting of a mother on loss of her baby has been narrated in a superb manner. Though dipped in pain the poem is captivating. Thanks for sharing it here.

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Micheal Olaniyi 14 May 2016

yo!!! I feel like dying for this poem. I love this ssssso much

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Edward Kofi Louis 14 May 2016

Upon my breast to-night! Thanks for sharing this poem with us.

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Xing Hua 14 May 2016

Touching every heart poem. Worn out, I sleep; I wake - I weep - I sleep - hush, hush, my dear; Pitiful mother!

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Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Johnstown Center / Rock County / Wisconsin
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