Childless…


What do you ask your God for, at the end of day,

Kneeling beside your bed with bowed and hopeless head?

What mercy can He give you?—Dreams of the unborn

Children that haunt your soul like loving words unsaid—

Dreams, as a song half-heard through sleep in early morn?

Tender, and bitter-sweet, and shy, I’ve watched you holding

Another’s child. O childless woman, was it then

That, with an instant’s cry, your heart, made young again,

Was crucified for ever—those poor arms enfolding

The life, the consummation that had been denied you?

I too have longed for children. Ah, but you must not weep.

Something I have to whisper as I kneel beside you…

And you must pray for me before you fall asleep.

by Siegfried Sassoon

28 comments on “Childless…”

  1. Nice bw photo, cute dog!

  2. Excellent le rendu de cette scène !

  3. Holdind her like if she was a baby. Very “touching”

  4. Adorable, cute tatoo 🙂

  5. Superbe portrait

  6. Wow! My first thought when I saw this image was… ohhh beautiful baby. My second thought was “cool tatoo” :o) then as I notice the wonderful tones and luminosity in this image I scrolled down to the narrative you have posted with this image and was very moved. I relate to your whole concept here as I am a cat lover and they are like my children… approaching the age of being to old to have kids and not having found the right partner, having been married and my ex not being able to father children I have often wondered if I would miss the chance, I know now I probably have. For me this image and commentary runs very deep, wonderfully moving and emotive my friend, well done!

  7. Strong. – And touching. However I would have prefered if you had changed your position so the soda can was out of the frame, it confuses the composition a little.Is he your husband? I was thinking of the tatoo on his left arm 😉

  8. Wonderful, the dog looks like a baby

  9. magnifique portrait

  10. What a little baby. She’s eating it up:-) So sweet.

  11. A cute baby. Really great fun and taken from an excellent viewpoint. And no need to watermark your work because I noticed a tattooist already did that for you.

  12. Great shot — with a touch of tenderness

  13. Sweet portrait, love the perspective!

  14. excellent title and image

  15. Splendid shot!sweet, sweet dog…Look at my blog 🙂

  16. Hey thats awesome he has your name on his arm!! ha – now that is commitment! Great shot

  17. Seems a baby. Nice shot

  18. Very cute and tender… a beautiful B&W… we love them too much… My dear Greta (somme pics on my blog) is now 17 years and 4 months old.

  19. Tender shot. Very nice BW processing.

  20. A powerful but tender image, and the doggie is enjoying the comfort too.

  21. Good work, beautiful composition, wonderful angle shooting.

  22. A great picture with very nice tones. Great viewpoint as well. Works excellent in B&W… A nice warming picture. Shes a cutie, and so is… eh nevermind.. Well done.

  23. a touching photo – it seems very candid, but so much better than a snapshot.

  24. very cute & touching shot.. (i’m a dog person) also.. i’m surprised no one noticed that your dog’s eyeing his.. you know.. lol.. maybe for nomnoms.. 😀

  25. Lovely B&W shot, like it a lot 🙂

  26. Your photos always convey your thoughtfulness Elaine. And I love the narratives too!

  27. I like the point of view. 🙂

  28. just adorable! love the composition! very strong — and touching indeed! 🙂

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