Heard you that shriek? It rose <br /> So wildly on the air, <br />It seemed as if a burden'd heart <br /> Was breaking in despair. <br /> <br />Saw you those hands so sadly clasped-- <br /> The bowed and feeble head-- <br />The shuddering of that fragile form-- <br /> That look of grief and dread? <br /> <br />Saw you the sad, imploring eye? <br /> Its every glance was pain, <br />As if a storm of agony <br /> Were sweeping through the brain. <br /> <br />She is a mother pale with fear, <br /> Her boy clings to her side, <br />And in her kirtle vainly tries <br /> His trembling form to hide. <br /> <br />He is not hers, although she bore <br /> For him a mother's pains; <br />He is not hers, although her blood <br /> Is coursing through his veins! <br /> <br />He is not hers, for cruel hands <br /> May rudely tear apart <br />The only wreath of household love <br /> That binds her breaking heart. <br /> <br />His love has been a joyous light <br /> That o'er her pathway smiled, <br />A fountain gushing ever new, <br /> Amid life's desert wild. <br /> <br />His lightest word has been a tone <br /> Of music round her heart, <br />Their lives a streamlet blent in one-- <br /> Oh, Father! must they part? <br /> <br />They tear him from her circling arms, <br /> Her last and fond embrace. <br />Oh! never more may her sad eyes <br /> Gaze on his mournful face. <br /> <br />No marvel, then, these bitter shrieks <br /> Disturb the listening air: <br />She is a mother, and her heart <br /> Is breaking in despair.<br /><br />Frances Ellen Watkins Harper<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-slave-mother/
