Death & Dying

A Little Boy in the Morning

by Francis Ledwidge 1887–1917

From Songs of Peace (1917)

Death & DyingRelationships

He will not come, and still I wait.
He whistles at another gate
Where angels listen. Ah, I know
He will not come, yet if I go
How shall I know he did not pass
Barefooted in the flowery grass?

The moon leans on one silver horn
Above the silhouettes of morn,
And from their nest sills finches whistle
Or stooping pluck the downy thistle.
How is the morn so gay and fair
Without his whistling in its air?
The world is calling, I must go.
How shall I know he did not pass
Barefooted in the shining grass?

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A mother waits for a little boy who 'whistles at another gate where angels listen'. 'How shall I know he did not pass / Barefooted in the shining grass?'

MLA

Ledwidge, Francis. “A Little Boy in the Morning.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/ledwidge/24/.

Chicago

Ledwidge, Francis. “A Little Boy in the Morning.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/ledwidge/24/.

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