Life and Death

All night the Mother laboured long and sore;
All night the Father lingered at Death's door
And could not pass beyond; could not withdraw
From his fast-fading eyes, until he saw
Their coming little one; the Mother strove
To give him this last pledge of visible love;
But vainly strove to bring her babe to birth:
And, at the last grave-edge of crumbling earth.
Where life and death were locked in one last strain,
His spirit clung with glazing gaze in vain:
For when the Infant came, with smiling dawn,
The waiting, watching, weary soul was gone:
Even in Life's gateway Babe and Parent passed
Each other, with Death's shadow overcast.