Religion
Many of the poems in this collection by Frances Ellen Watkins have to deal with religion, and it is likely that she is trying to get the reader to understand some kind of deeper meaning behind the idea of religion. Just a few of the poems that mention religion are Mother's Treasures, Ethiopia, and A Grain of Sand, and all of them seem to glorify the Christian Lord as being all-powerful and all-important, needed to be remembered in everyday life. Watkins, while writing these poems, was likely trying to convey her own opinions on religion, trying to convince readers that it does in fact bring with it a better way of life.
Reality
The poems in this collection by Frances Ellen Watkins have a varying degree of this theme, but reality seems to play an important role in almost all of them. A Grain of Sand is one poem that shows the reality of the world, as the narrator realizes that he isn't that big in the scheme of things after all. The idea of parents raising their children in a way as to not keep them from the realities of the world also springs up, and proves to be important in the underlying foundation of many of her poems.
