We’ve had a letter from the boy,
And oh, the gladness and the joy
It brought to us! We read it o’er
I’d say a dozen times or more.
We laughed until the teardrops fell
At all the fun he had to tell.
He’s in the navy, wearing blue,
And everything is all so new
That he can see in youthful style
The funny things to make us smile.
He’s working hard! Between the lines
We gather that. The brass he shines
Without complaining, and the food
He gets to eat is very crude.
And yet he laughs at all his chores.
He says the maid who scrubs our floors
Will have to quit when he returns
Unless a better way she learns.
‘I’ve got it on the fairer sex,’
Says he, ‘since I am swabbing decks.’
‘A sailor’s life, dear Mom,’ writes he,
‘Is not the life you picked for me.
And yet I’m getting fat and strong
And learning as I go along
That any life a man can find
Is apt to grow to be a grind
Unless a fellow has the wit
To see the brighter side of it.
Don’t worry for your sailor son;
He sleeps well when his work is done.’
We’ve had a letter from the boy,
And oh, the gladness and the joy
It brought to us! T’was good to know
That he is facing duty so.
Between the lines that he had penned
His mother’s bitter fears to end,
I saw his manhood glowing bright,
And now I know his heart is right.
Behind the laughter I could see
My boy’s the man I’d hoped he’d be.
