| Hunt and Lee, comps. The Book of the Sonnet. 1867. | | | | Learning Prayers | | By John James Piatt (1835–1917) |
| | | THE SWEET pure mother, wearing through the dust | |
| Her heaven-white garment of fresh Christian love | |
| Silent about her, while her patient trust | |
| O’er cloudland sings—one sunlit bird above— | |
| Through twilight’s hushing gold bends sweet and lowly | 5 |
| Down on her little children, making prayers | |
| Grow in their hearts, while their low voices slowly | |
| Send little angels heavenward unawares: | |
| So Nature, a sweet mother, o’er us bends, | |
| Through this dim eve of an eternal day; | 10 |
| Whispers love-words, till gushing light ascends,— | |
| Prayer’s hidden fountain in the heart that lay; | |
| And heaven’s mild dew into our dream descends, | |
| While, flame-like, close tired eyes, waiting morn’s golden ray. | | | | |
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