What did the baby come for?
That was the question trite
The neighbors asked each other
That stormy winter's night;
What was the need of children?
Twas hard enough before
To keep care out of the window.
The gray wolf from the door.
Out on the wintry barren,
Over the sleeping town,
Out of the cold, dark heaven
Drifted the snowflakes down.
Within the low, old cottage ,
Flickered the candle's flame
In the dusk of the early dawning,
But never an answer came.
What did the baby come for?
A woman's heart could tell,
At the touch of the tiny fingers,
Like to a fairy spell-
A heart that was hard with doubting,
A soul that was barred with sin,
Opened a tide from God's ocean-
The mother-love swept in.
What did the baby come for?
A strong man's heart had grown.
Through poverty's constant grinding,
As hard as the nether stone ;
Only a baby's prattle,
And yet, O wonderful song
That made a man's heart grow lighter-
Made a man's hands grow strong;
Was ever a spring or summer
That vanished on wings so fleet ?
Ah! twas a joy to labor
When living had grown so sweet;
Care never came to the window.
And poverty, gaunt and grim,
Never stepped over the threshold ;
There was no place for him.
Maitland, N.S.W. : Thomas William Tucker and Richard Jones, 1843-[1893]
