"Only a little veil between,--
A slight, thin veil; if you could see
Past its gray folds, there she would be,
Smiling and sweet, and she would lean
And stretch her hands out joyfully.

"All the day long, and year by year,
She will go forward as you go;
As you grow older, she will grow;
As you grow good, she with her clear
And angel eyes, will mark and know.

"Think, when you wake up every day,
That she is standing by your bed,
Close to the pillow where her head,
Her little curly head, once lay,
With a 'Good-morning' smiled, not said.

"Think, when the hooks seem dull and tame,
The sports no longer what they were,
That there she sits, a shape of air,
And turns the leaf or joins the game
With the same smile she used to wear.

"So, moving on still, hand in hand,
One of these days your eyes will clear,
The hiding veil will disappear,
And you will know and understand
Just why your playmate left you here."