The Returned Picture

Refused admission ! Baby, Baby,
Don't you feel a little pain ?
See, your picture with your mother's.
From the prison back again.
They are cruel, cruel jailers, —
They are heartless, heartless men.

Ah, you laugh, my little Flax-Hair !
But my eyes are full of tears ;
And my heart is sorely troubled
With old voices in my ears :
With the lingering disappointment
That is shadowing my years !

Was it much to ask them, Baby —
These rough menials of the Queen-
Was it much to ask, to give him
This poor picture, form and mien
Of the wife he loved, the little son
He never yet had seen ?

Ah, they're cruel, cruel jailers ;
They are heartless, heartless men :
To bar the last poor comfort from
Your father's prison pen ;
To shut our picture from the gates
And send it home again !