--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Oh, when a mother meets on high The babe…" description: "\"Oh, when a mother meets on high The babe she lost in infancy, Hath she not then for pains and fears, The day of woe, the watchful night, For all her so..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/129/robert-southey-4115_babe_oh-when-a-mother-meets-on-high-the-babe_1705347.png" --- # Oh, when a mother meets on high The babe she lost in… ![“Oh, when a mother meets on high The babe she lost in infancy, Hath she not then for pains and fears, The day of woe, the watchful night, For all her sorrow, all her tears, An over-payment of delight?” quote by Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/129/robert-southey-4115_babe_oh-when-a-mother-meets-on-high-the-babe_1705347.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/129/robert-southey-4115_babe_oh-when-a-mother-meets-on-high-the-babe_1705347.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/129/robert-southey-4115_babe_oh-when-a-mother-meets-on-high-the-babe_1705347.png) > “Oh, when a mother meets on high The babe she lost in infancy, Hath she not then for pains and fears, The day of woe, the watchful night, For all her sorrow, all her tears, An over-payment of delight?” [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The poem reflects a mother’s deep sorrow and fear for a lost child, questioning whether her grief is a form of excessive joy. **In simple terms:** A mother mourns a lost child, mixing grief with strange delight. Key Takeaway Acknowledge complex emotions in loss. Themes grief motherhood loss paradox emotion Mood somber introspective poetic Type literary emotional When to use this quote - counseling - grief support - literary analysis Key Concepts Poetic lament psychological conflict maternal love Questions to Reflect On - How do you process grief that feels contradictory? - What can help transform sorrow into healing? A Different Perspective May romanticize pain, ignoring practical coping. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Delight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delight/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Grief](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grief/) [Infancy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/infancy/) [Joy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/joy/) [Mother](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mother/) [Motherhood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/motherhood/) [Night](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/night/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Parenting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/parenting/) [Payment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/payment/) [Sorrow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sorrow/) [Tears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tears/) [Woe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/woe/) ## Related quotes > [“CHAPTER I—ONE MOTHER MEETS ANOTHER MOTHER”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/chapter-i-one-mother-meets-another-mother/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [Tears of pain and tears of sorrow, tears for a life that has no tomorrow... As you wipe the tears from your face you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sangfroid-stalker/tears-of-pain-and-tears-of-sorrow-tears-for-a-life-that-has-no/) [SangFroid Stalker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sangfroid-stalker/) > [Tears are often to be found where there is little sorrow, and the deepest sorrow without any tears.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/tears-are-often-to-be-found-where-there-is-little-sorrow-and-the/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [Pools of sorrow and tears of joy, there's a broken up girl for every broken down boy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chicago-band/pools-of-sorrow-and-tears-of-joy-there-s-a-broken-up-girl-for-every/) [Chicago (Band](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chicago-band/) > [“The sweet sorrow is tears of joy.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/the-sweet-sorrow-is-tears-of-joy/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [You made me cry, you tore me apart, you left me in tears, you shattered my heart. It was your fault I guess it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dopeydasha/you-made-me-cry-you-tore-me-apart-you-left-me-in-tears-you-shattered-2/) [DopeyDasha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dopeydasha/) > [You Made Me Cry, You Tore Me Apart, You Left Me In Tears, You Shattered My Heart ...It Wasnt Your Fault, I Guess It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-made-me-cry-you-tore-me-apart-you-left-me-in-tears-you-shattered/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Joy, sorrow, tears, lamentation, laughter -- to all these music gives voice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/joy-sorrow-tears-lamentation-laughter-to-all-these-music-gives-voice/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [Tis aye a solemn thing to me To look upon a babe that sleeps-- Wearing in its spirit-deeps The unrevealed mystery Of its Adam's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-barrett-browning/tis-aye-a-solemn-thing-to-me-to-look-upon-a-babe-that-sleeps-wearing/) [Elizabeth Barrett Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-barrett-browning/) > [We are convinced that all of our race who die in infancy partake in the redemption wrought out by our Lord Jesus. Whatever some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-spurgeon/we-are-convinced-that-all-of-our-race-who-die-in-infancy-partake-in/) [Charles Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-spurgeon/) > [Infancy conforms to nobody: all conform to it, so that one babe commonly makes four or five out of the adults who prattle and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/infancy-conforms-to-nobody-all-conform-to-it-so-that-one-babe/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The focus in the Western pictorial tradition is on the body of Christ, the bit you can paint, the Nativity and the infancy, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-macgregor/the-focus-in-the-western-pictorial-tradition-is-on-the-body-of-christ/) [Neil MacGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-macgregor/) > [Christianity is the companion of liberty in all its conflicts, the cradle of its infancy, and the divine source of its claims.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/christianity-is-the-companion-of-liberty-in-all-its-conflicts-the/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [Sensible Catholics have for generations been ignoring the views on contraception held by reactionary old men in the Vatican, but alas, since it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-c-grayling/sensible-catholics-have-for-generations-been-ignoring-the-views-on/) [A.C. Grayling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-c-grayling/) > [Heaven lies around us in our infancy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-golding/heaven-lies-around-us-in-our-infancy/) [William Golding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-golding/) ## More by Robert Southey > [Some voluntary castaways there will always be, whom no fostering kindness and no parental care can preserve from self-destruction; but if any are lost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/some-voluntary-castaways-there-will-always-be-whom-no-fostering/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [It has been more wittily than charitably said that hell is paved with good intentions; they have their place in heaven also.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/it-has-been-more-wittily-than-charitably-said-that-hell-is-paved-with/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Order is the sanity of the mind, the health of the body, the peace of the city, the security of the state. As the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/order-is-the-sanity-of-the-mind-the-health-of-the-body-the-peace-of/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Whatever strengthens our local attachments is favorable both to individual and national character, our home, our birthplace, our native land. Think for a while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/whatever-strengthens-our-local-attachments-is-favorable-both-to/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [I have told you of the Spaniard who always put on his spectacles when about to eat cherries, that they might look bigger and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/i-have-told-you-of-the-spaniard-who-always-put-on-his-spectacles-when/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [My days among the dead are passed; Around me I behold, Where'er these casual eyes are cast, The mighty minds of old; My never-failing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/my-days-among-the-dead-are-passed-around-me-i-behold-where-er-these/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Love is indestructible. It's holy flame forever burneth; from Heaven it came, to Heaven returneth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/love-is-indestructible-it-s-holy-flame-forever-burneth-from-heaven-it/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Live as long as you may, the first twenty years are the longest half of your life. They appear so while they are passing;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/live-as-long-as-you-may-the-first-twenty-years-are-the-longest-half/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Take away love, and not physical nature only, but the heart of the moral world, would be palsied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/take-away-love-and-not-physical-nature-only-but-the-heart-of-the/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Where Washington hath left His awful memory A light for after times!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/where-washington-hath-left-his-awful-memory-a-light-for-after-times/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [The loss of a friend is like that of a limb; time may heal the anguish of the wound, but the loss cannot be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/the-loss-of-a-friend-is-like-that-of-a-limb-time-may-heal-the-anguish/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Three things a wise man will not trust, The wind, the sunshine of an April day, And woman's plighted faith.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/three-things-a-wise-man-will-not-trust-the-wind-the-sunshine-of-an/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [She comes majestic with her swelling sails, The gallant Ship: along her watery way, Homeward she drives before the favouring gales; Now flirting at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/she-comes-majestic-with-her-swelling-sails-the-gallant-ship-along-her/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [A wise judge, by the craft of the law, was never seduced from its purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/a-wise-judge-by-the-craft-of-the-law-was-never-seduced-from-its/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) > [Let us depart! the universal sun Confines not to one land his blessed beams; Nor is man rooted, like a tree, whose seed, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-southey/let-us-depart-the-universal-sun-confines-not-to-one-land-his-blessed/) [Robert Southey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) [Explore all 116 Robert Southey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-southey/) ## More Babe quotes > [ROSES ARE RED VIOLETS ARE BLUE YOU DID ME WRONG SO GUESS WAT BABE??FUKK YU](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica/roses-are-red-violets-are-blue-you-did-me-wrong-so-guess-wat-babe/) JESSICA > [You two faced threw your teeth u ain't nun but babe daddy go wash your feet go with the girl u so call sweet…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cherrykee/you-two-faced-threw-your-teeth-u-ain-t-nun-but-babe-daddy-go-wash/) Cherrykee > [“You’re all mine, babe. Knew it the first time I saw you. Couldn’t give you up if I tried.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joanna-wylde/you-re-all-mine-babe-knew-it-the-first-time-i-saw-you-couldn-t-give/) [Joanna Wylde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joanna-wylde/) > [The home run became glorified with Babe Ruth. Starting with him, batters have been thinking in terms of how far they could hit the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rogers-hornsby/the-home-run-became-glorified-with-babe-ruth-starting-with-him/) [Rogers Hornsby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rogers-hornsby/) > [You love young ones and babes, I know this. The young will always befriend and admire you...all the young ones of the earth belong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-jacques/you-love-young-ones-and-babes-i-know-this-the-young-will-always/) [Brian Jacques](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-jacques/) > [I just hate it when my baby try to chill with some other guy..hunny.!.if u really want to chill then please use A.C. not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritzy/i-just-hate-it-when-my-baby-try-to-chill-with-some-other-guy-hunny-if/) [Ritzy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritzy/) > [“My heart slammed into my chest when he called her babe.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kelly-elliott/my-heart-slammed-into-my-chest-when-he-called-her-babe/) [Kelly Elliott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kelly-elliott/) > [Wine is the drink of the gods, milk the drink of babes, tea the drink of women, and water the drink of beasts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-blackie/wine-is-the-drink-of-the-gods-milk-the-drink-of-babes-tea-the-drink/) [John Stuart Blackie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-blackie/) > [I need a man who can call me beautiful with no makeup on, who can be himself around me, who can kiss me and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idk/i-need-a-man-who-can-call-me-beautiful-with-no-makeup-on-who-can-be/) Idk > [“I shan't make a fuss over the babe's father.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-e-pearson/i-shan-t-make-a-fuss-over-the-babe-s-father/) [Mary E. 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