To Peggy on her Twentieth Birthday
For her daughter Peggy at twenty — 'When first I held you in my arms... I thought that you were mine alone.'
To Peggy on her Twentieth Birthday
When first I held you in my arms,
Oh twenty years are long—
And fondly called you Margaret;
As in the poet’s song.
I thought that you were mine alone,
As in a world apart,
A tiny bit of elfin grace,
To cherish in my heart.
But not for long, for Daddy’s pet,
And “Peggy” you became;
To suit your tilted Irish nose,
And gone my lovely name!
Where did the years that followed go?
When did you get full grown?
What happened to that age old dream,
And why am I alone?
Again I seem to walk with you
Along those childhood shores,
And wish that I had found the key
To that locked heart of yours.
And as I view in retrospect,
The swiftly passing years,
I wonder what I might have done
To banish all your fears.
There is a truth I’d have you keep
Nor let dark doubt erase
That nothing in this world can take
A first born daughter’s place.
Mabel E. Plaskett.