Classic Poems for Mothers

A celebration of motherhood in verse

Mother, dear mother, the years have been long,

Since I last listened your lullaby song;

Sing, then, and unto my soul it shall seem

Womanhood's years have been only a dream.

Clasped to your heart in a loving embrace,

With your light lashes just sweeping my face,

Never hereafter to wake or to weep,

Rock me to sleep, mother, rock me to sleep.

—Elizabeth Chase Allen, from ‘Rock Me to Sleep’

This exquisitely illustrated anthology contains inspiring and moving poetry for mothers by some of the best-loved writers in the English language, from Anne Bradstreet to William Wordsworth, and from Emily Dickinson to Rudyard Kipling.