11 JANUARY 1952, Page 13

On a Dead Child

ALWAYS before my eyes there gleams the gold

And whiteness of a child's .dead face.

The eyes are open, dark and candid With the knowledge of a lesson we Have yet to learn. The faded mouth Is grave and wilful, and the eyebrows, faint As a moth's antennae, still arch their question In a fringe of golden hair : a face to be revered For its impertinent beauty, that in death Sees even more than it appeared to know In life, and holds our ignorance amazed at both.

JAMES KIRKUP.