The Family

by Bayard Taylor

Dear Love, whatever fate
The flying years unfold,
There's none can dissipate
The happiness we hold.
Whatever cloud may rise,
The very storms grow mild
Where bend the blissful skies
O'er Husband, Wife, and Child.

The errant dreams that failed,
The promises that fled,
The roseate hopes that paled,
The loves that now are dead,
The treason of the Past, --
All, all are reconciled:
Life's glory shines at last
On Father, Mother, Child!

To meet the days and years,
With hands that never part;
To shed no secret tears,
To hide no lonely heart:
To know our longing stilled,
To feel that God has smiled:
These are the dreams fulfilled
In Husband, Wife, and Child, --
In Father, Mother, Child!