PS 3527 
 .062 116 
 1922 
 Copy 1 
 
 MOTHER'S LIFE 
 IN MINIATURE 
 
MOTHER'S LIFE 
 IN MINIATURE 
 
 A POEM 
 
 BY 
 
 Albert James Norton 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 Ye Cloister Print Shop 
 
 CfflCAGO 
 

 Copyrighted by 
 
 Albert James Norton 
 
 1922 
 
 HOV 25 1^^^ 
 
 C1A&91595 
 
Mother's Life in Miniature 
 
 J^^\ HESE homely lines, though crude yet still sincere, 
 ^^^V To thee I dedicate, my Mother dear; 
 To thee, whose days in peace are gliding by ; 
 To thee, whose merited reward draws nigh. 
 
 II 
 
 Early upon thee came life's duties and 
 Responsibilities, cares of the home 
 Left to thee by a mother fond gone to 
 Her rest. The schoolroom, too, thy presence knew, 
 There the young mind to teach and train the heart 
 To rule. Next followed at an early age 
 Maternal joys and sorrows, busy round 
 Of family life. 
 
 Ill 
 
 A well built house of logs, decent though small, 
 Kept trim and tidy by thy hands, its walls 
 Adorned with pictures cut from magazines 
 And papers, one large room with alcoves two, 
 For beds, and clothes-press set between — such was 
 The early home, on rising ground and woods 
 About, which sheltered deer and smaller game, 
 The home o'er which thou didst preside. 
 
 IV 
 
 Soon smiling fields of grass, and wheat, and com 
 Replaced the sturdy beach and oak and elm 
 That fell beneath thy woodman's axe so keen. 
 He shared with thee the hardships of those old, 
 Stern days, he, who was kind but firm as rock 
 In his integrity. 
 
The lean-to later built against the house 
 More room did give and comfort add; and these . 
 Were needed now, its occupants increased 
 To four. Hard was the work, but prosperous 
 Grew the young farmer and his wife as years 
 Went by. 
 
 VI 
 
 How clear the picture of that little home 
 Appears before me now, with thee, my good. 
 Kind Mother, at thy work ; the floor clean mopped, 
 The polished stove, the beds filled high with corn 
 Husks or with straw, and all o'erspread with sheets 
 Snow-white and quilts in many colored squares 
 And other patterns and designs, all neat. 
 And valanced round with drapery nice; the chairs 
 In order ranged and ornaments hand-made, 
 Placed here and there, while thou pursuedst thy task. 
 Mending, sewing, knitting, mayhap, or with 
 Thy needle doing fancy work — artist 
 Thou wast by nature formed — or fashioning thy 
 Boys' garments. 
 
 VII 
 
 The culinary art, so nearly lost 
 To modern housewife, thou didst have in great 
 Perfection. Plain and wholesome dishes to 
 Prepare thou knew'st just how; and richest foods, 
 These healthful, too. How many were the hours 
 Thus spent by thee to please the taste and build 
 The human frame strong and robust. 
 
 VIII 
 
 Thy love for flowers grew as passed the years. 
 The morning-glory and the honey-suckle 
 Climbed round the door, and lightly trellised o'er 
 The window. Trim kept were the figured beds 
 And shapes that formed a fragrant avenue. 
 Sweet scent of rose, of pink, of violet. 
 And many more, to sight as beautiful 
 As grateful to the smell. Wild flowers were thy 
 Delight, and mine likewise. 
 
IX 
 
 Few books, but chosen well, were in that home, 
 The Bible first, most used, its lessons taught 
 With loving care to thy young charges two. 
 Not idle were their minds but filled with thoughts 
 And sayings wise that thou hadst gleaned and gavest 
 To them, to make them strong for truth and right. 
 
 X 
 
 No fonder picture can I draw than this. 
 Recalled in memory oft: Thou sitting with 
 Thy long and silken hair unbound, while I 
 Beside thee stood and drew a lazy comb 
 Slow through those glossy strands, and listened to 
 Thy wondrous tales ; the thrilling deeds performed 
 By ancestors of thine and their compeers. 
 And thou hadst had adventures of thine own. 
 Which thou didst modestly relate and call 
 But small affairs, to me most interesting. 
 Then tales of knights, enchanted castles, and rhymes 
 Galore, poured forth in lively flow unceasing. 
 Thy ready wit invented many a tale 
 More marvelous to me by far than all 
 That books could give, or e'en thy memory, full 
 Of facts, called forth. Thus hours were spent by thee 
 In entertaining and instructing my 
 Young mind: happy to me those hours so spent. 
 
 XI 
 
 A just and equal judge between us two, 
 William, my junior, and myself, in our 
 Disputes and little, jarring discords, thou 
 Could'st soon compose them all, and harmony 
 Restore. Thy own good nature mingled large 
 In us made mutual love the rule and not 
 The exception. 
 
 XII 
 
 The neighbors all knew well thy worth, thy deeds 
 Of kindness, and thy love for them and theirs. 
 Oft didst thou heal their ills with simple but 
 Effective remedies; and to the poor 
 Thou gavest what could be spared and oft-times more. 
 
Kill 
 
 In social and religious life in that 
 Community wherein we lived and were 
 A part, thy genial temper and thy soft 
 Command made thee a leader and a guide 
 Welcomed by all. Oft didst thou entertain 
 In our small comfortable home the ladies 
 Of the neighborhood at teas whereat were feasts 
 Of things delicious to the taste, where mirth 
 Flowed free, and harmless, lightsome talk buzzed round 
 The busy room; but graver themes engaged 
 Also the attention of the fair on those 
 Occasions, who gave decisions prompt 
 And, to themselves at least, quite free from doubt 
 And error. Well do I recall with glee 
 The quilting-bees, the paring-bees, and the 
 Sweet "sugarings-off," and other friendly gatherings 
 That joined in unison both labor and play. 
 
 XIV 
 
 Long, lonely were the days, and weeks, and months. 
 When father, marksman keen, shouldered his giui. 
 And went in quest of larger game, or on 
 A visit to some distant friends, to view 
 Also the land and choose, perhaps, another 
 More advantageous home, or, it might be. 
 Explored the farther West and braved the wild 
 Indian and savage beasts in native haunts. 
 Again, when civil strife rent all the land. 
 He, at his country's call, served freedom's cause. 
 And left thee with thy boys and other cares. 
 To do thy best. In all these trials thou 
 Wast brave and patient and managed well. 
 
 XV 
 
 We passed a decade in those rural scenes; 
 Then to a city's larger life removed, 
 Where schools and churches and the better things 
 That cultivate the mind, refine the heart. 
 And give a larger scope to youthful aims. 
 Were to be found. There, thou, the same good wife 
 
And mother fond, mid trials that o'ertook 
 
 Us all, through loss of hard-earned gains acquired 
 
 In former years, pursuedst thy even course. 
 
 By all respected and by many loved. 
 
 XVI 
 
 Still later came a year's short residence 
 In that city by the lake, a mart which nov7 
 Grown second in the western world, is destined 
 Yet to be the mightiest on the globe. 
 
 H: H< Hi H: H: 4: 
 
 XVII 
 
 Then came another change that parted thee 
 And me, and sent ye three to dwell in that 
 Fair clime, the land of flowers, de Leon's land 
 Where hides the fabled Fount of Youth, while I 
 Remained behind. Not often since that parting 
 Have we met in converse sweet. In thy late years 
 Calamity has overtaken thee; 
 For those mild orbs of thine, now sightless quite, 
 No more can view the scenes all beauteous 
 That round thee lie, no more can guide thy hand 
 To write the thoughts that in thy mind do dwell; 
 And thus the boon of such communion with 
 Thee now is lost to me, a loss that I 
 Most deeply feel. Through all this trial thou 
 Hast been serene and uncomplaining still. 
 
 XVIII 
 
 For forty years and more thy home has been 
 Among the fruits and flowers of Florida, 
 In pretty Crescent City, which crowns a ridge 
 That parts two lovely lakes — a little gem 
 Between two other gems. There thou hast had 
 Thy joys and sorrows, too, losses and gains. 
 And labor hard, in the earlier days. 
 
 XIX 
 
 Thy talents and thy goodness there have shone 
 Conspicuous, in civic work and in 
 
The Church, as well as in thy private life. 
 There thou hast seen grow up, in worthy ways, 
 Around thee grandchildren, thy pride, who cheer 
 And solace thee. 
 
 XX 
 
 Him that for three score years and six walked by 
 Thy side, in counsel wise, without reproach. 
 Esteemed by all and honored for his virtues. 
 But lately called imto a grander life, 
 Reward for his high merits in this vale 
 Of tears, most missed by thee, thou cherishest 
 In memory's deepest recesses. Him in 
 His blest abode thou hopest to rejoin 
 When thy own pilgrimage on earth is done. 
 
 XXI 
 
 Upon thy younger son, companion to 
 His parents in those years of good and ill, 
 Spent in that southern land, upon him, who 
 In filial love and duty is perfect. 
 Thou now dost lean, as on a staff, and the 
 Kind care that he and his bestow on thee 
 Comforts thee in thy latest days. 
 
 XXII 
 
 Thus imperfectly, but most lovingly 
 I've sung thy praises. This slight tribute, sill 
 Unable as it is to do thee justice, 
 Accept, O Mother dear, from me too weak 
 In wit for task so great. It is the best 
 I can. 
 
 XXIII 
 
 Live happy on, and when the final call 
 Comes unto thee, go wafted, radiant, 
 In etherial currents to those blissful realms 
 Celestial prepared for those that here 
 On earth have done the Master's will. 
 
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