Classic Poem

Alas! 'twas never mine to share
A mother's love, a mother's care:
Thou'rt gone forever from my view,
Ere yet how great the loss I knew:
Yet, at the story of thy worth,
Th'involuntary tear starts forth;
And to thy grave I oft repair,
To mourn with filial duty there.
Ev'n now thou mayst thy son survey,
This tribute to thy mem'ry pay;
And to a name he holds so dear,
Give all, that now he can, a tear.
And, oh! may death at last restore
Thy son to thee,—to part no more,
And there thy son his mother know,
Whom yet unknown, he lov'd below.