And work-work-work, When the weather is warm and bright !— While underneath the eaves The brooding swallows cling, As if to show me their sunny backs, "Oh! but to breathe the breath Of the cowslip and primrose sweet— With the sky above my head, And the grass beneath my feet! For only one short hour To feel as I used to feel, Before I knew the woes of want And the walk that costs a meal! "Oh! but for one short hour- A little weeping would ease my heart; My tears must stop, for every drop With fingers weary and worn, A woman sat, in unwomanly rags, Stitch! stitch! stitch! In poverty, hunger, and dirt; And still, with a voice of dolorous pitch— Would that its tone could reach the rich!this "Song of the Shirt!" She sang THE BRIDGE OF SIGHS. "Drowned! drowned!"-HAMLET. NE more unfortunate, ONE Weary of breath, Rashly importunate, Gone to her death! Take her up tenderly, Look at her garments, Touch her not scornfully! Make no deep scrutiny Past all dishonour, Death has left on her Only the beautiful. Still, for all slips of hers- Loop up her tresses Who was her father? Who was her mother? Had she a sister? Had she a brother? Or was there a dearer one Still, and a nearer one Yet, than all other? Alas for the rarity Under the sun! Oh, it was pitiful! Near a whole city full, Home she had none. Sisterly, brotherly, Fatherly, motherly Feelings had changed Love, by harsh evidence, Thrown from its eminence; Seeming estranged. Where the lamps quiver With many a light From window and casement, The bleak wind of March But not the dark arch, Or the black flowing river: In she plunged boldly— Lave in it, drink of it, Take her up tenderly— Lift her with care! Fashioned so slenderly— Young, and so fair! Ere her limbs, frigidly, 431 Decently, kindly, Smooth and compose them; Through muddy impurity, Perishing gloomily, Cold inhumanity, Into her rest ! Cross her hands humbly, Owning her weakness, Her evil behaviour, And leaving, with meekness, Mrs. Caroline Norton. TWILIGHT. IT is the twilight hour, The daylight toil is done, And the last rays are departing |