# The Message explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by Henry van Dyke Jr..

## What happens

The narrator reflects on a tender encounter with a neighbor's child, whose innocent smile conveys a wordless message of love and comfort from a lost child in heaven, offering more solace than any wise counsel.

## Themes in this chapter

### Grief and Memory

The narrator's grief for a lost child is transformed by a memory-like message of love conveyed through another child.

### Spiritual Peace and Rest

The child's smile and the dream of heaven bring a sense of peace and understanding to the narrator.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The narrator who receives the child's message and finds comfort.

### Aldrich

The lost child who whispers love from heaven through the neighbor's child.

## Key lines

> Waking from tender sleep, My neighbour’s little child Put out his baby hand to me, Looked in my face, and smiled.

A neighbor's toddler, just waking up, reaches out to me and smiles.

_The initial encounter that sparks the poem's reflection._

> Somewhere, among bright dreams, A child that once was mine Has whispered wordless love to him, And given him a sign.

In a realm of happy dreams, my own deceased child has silently communicated love to this little one and given him a token to pass on.

_The narrator interprets the child's smile as a message from their own lost child._

> Comfort of kindly speech, And counsel of the wise, Have helped me less than what I read In those deep-smiling eyes.

Kind words and wise advice have not comforted me as much as the meaning I see in that child's profound smile.

_The child's simple gesture surpasses all human consolation._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_10_se/chapters/the-message
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_10_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_10_se/chapters