The Reading Mom

I had a Mother who read to me

Saga of pirates who scoured the sea,

Cutlasses clenched in their yellow teeth,

"Blackbirds" stowed in the hold beneath.             

 I had a mother who read to me the things

That wholesome life to the boy heart brings-

Stories that stir with an upward touch,

Oh, that each mother of boys were such!                

I had a Mother who read me lays

Of ancient and gallant and golden days;

Stories of Marmion and Ivanhoe,

Which every boy has a right to know.

You may have tangible wealth untold;

Caskets of jewels and coffers of gold.

Richer than I you can never be-

I had a Mother who read to me.

I had a mother who read me tales

Of Gelert the hound of the hills of Wales,

True to his trust till his tragic death,

Faithfulness blent with his final breath.

  Gillian, Strickland, "The Reading Mother."

BEST LOVED POEMS OF THE AMERICAN

PEOPLE. New York; Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1936.