Again does she listen to every fond word
That love on the lips of the singer hath stirred;
The "By-oh, my baby!" which mother knows best,
Will comfort and soothe the young child to its rest.

And Grandma forgets the deep lines on her face,
Which tell of the years--the years long flown apace;
She does not remember that Time has left snow
On the head that was golden so long, long ago.

[Illustration]

She is only a child as she listens to-night--
With a sense of the old childish rest and delight--
To the voice of the mother who so long ago
Sat singing to _her_ in the firelight's glow--

[Illustration: tune in G major and words: By, by, O baby! baby by O!]

But childhood is merged into girlhood at last,
(The sweet years of "baby-life" vanish so fast!)
And Grandma's a maiden, so dainty and fair,
Of girlhood's bright visions content with her share.

How merrily now glide the hours away!
And yet, as comes oft on a fair Summer's day,
A cloud that o'ershadows its fairness, e'en so
To Grandma's girl-life now and then comes some woe