"I have seen the first robin of spring, mother dear,
And have heard the brown darling sing;
You said, 'Hear it and wish, and 'twill surely come true;
So I've wished such a beautiful thing!
"I thought I would like to ask something for _you_,
But I couldn't think what there could be
That you'd want while you had all those beautiful things;
Besides, you have papa and me.
"So I wished for a ladder, so long that 'twould stand
One end by our own cottage door,
And the other go up past the moon and the stars
And lean against heaven's white floor.
"Then I'd get you to put on my pretty white dress,
With my sash and my darling new shoes;
Then I'd find some white roses to take up to God--
The most beautiful ones I could choose.
"And you and dear papa would sit on the ground
And kiss me, and tell me 'Good-bye!'
Then I'd go up the ladder far out of your sight,
Till I came to the door in the sky.
"I wonder if God keeps the door fastened tight?
If but _one_ little crack I could see,
I would whisper, 'Please, God, let this little, girl in,
She's as tired as she can be!
"She came all alone from the earth to the sky,
For she's always been wanting to see
The gardens of heaven, with their robins and flowers,
'Please, God, is there room there for me?'
"And then, when the angels had opened the door,
God would say, 'Bring the little child here,'
But he'd speak it so softly I'd not be afraid,
And he'd smile just like you, mother dear
"He would put His kind arms round your dear little girl,
And I'd ask Him to send down for you,
And papa, and cousin, and all that I love--
Oh, dear' don't you wish 'twould come true?"
The next spring time, when the robins came home,
They sang over grasses and flowers
That grew where the foot of the ladder stood,
Whose top reached the heavenly bowers.
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