A Face at the Window
Once as I wandered down the street
I saw at the window a face so sweet;
The tiny face of a baby girl
With a soft clear eye, and a silken curl.
And I looked o’er my shoulder again to see,
The sweet, sweet face that smiled on me,
With a look in the eyes that seemed to say
“I have come from heaven but not to stay.”
Adown the street as I walked again
I looked for the sweet, sweet face at the pane,
But the blind was closed, and I heard it said
As I passed along that the child was dead.
And a lonely longing came over me
For the face that had smiled in its baby glee
On me for a moment, before it was hid
Under the cruel coffin lid.
O happy baby, O cherub girl!
Borne up out of the din and whirl,
Out of the sorrow and saddened strife
That burdens ever the brightest life.
Out of the darkness and out of the gloom
A bud, in the garden of God to bloom;
Safe from danger, and death and cold,
Sheltered forever within the fold.
What have you missed, O dainty dove,
By flying so soon to the realms above 7
Missed earth’s sorrows, and missed earth’s fears;
A woman’s pains, and a woman’s tears;
The aching head, and the weary feet;
The bitter lees of a cup too sweet;
Danger and sickness, and death and loss—
And all the pleasures that are but dross.
Sweet, sweet face, with the soulful eyes,
Look from the windows of God’s fair skies,
Look with these beauteous orbs of thine
And draw me nearer the things divine.
Walking along life’s troubled way,
Let me look up, as I looked that day,
And know that a fair and cherub face
Smiles upon me through leagues of space.
Help me to keep from the snares, my sweet,
That lie unnumbered about my feet.
Smile when I stumble, that I may rise
Cheered by the light of thy lovely eyes.
Plead with the Father to make me strong,
To keep my steps from the path of wrong,
And when my journey of life is done
May I see thy face, O cherub one.
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