 | The Poetical Works of Walter C. Smith |  |
BAD TIMES
An evil time! a time of deep unrest,
And thoughts that reached out for a larger life,
When bread was dear, the poor were sore distressed
And work was scanty, and the taxes rife.
And thoughts that reached out for a larger life,
When bread was dear, the poor were sore distressed
And work was scanty, and the taxes rife.
Often, at night, I walked about the town,
When the broad moon was silvering street and square,
And all the loathsome now was lovely grown,
For only light and shadow brooded there.
When the broad moon was silvering street and square,
And all the loathsome now was lovely grown,
For only light and shadow brooded there.
Stately and fair the gabled houses rose,
And hazy legend, or historic light
Clung to each winding stair, or murky close,
And with the past day filled the present night.
And hazy legend, or historic light
Clung to each winding stair, or murky close,
And with the past day filled the present night.
And in a dream of history I went
Along the centuries of pride and sin
That me o'ershadowed, till my heart was rent
With pity of the sights I saw therein.
Along the centuries of pride and sin
That me o'ershadowed, till my heart was rent
With pity of the sights I saw therein.
253
For often from the gloom and from the cold
Where they lay shivering in a dusky nook,
Gaunt faces glared at me, and children told
Their misery in a wan and wasted look.
Where they lay shivering in a dusky nook,
Gaunt faces glared at me, and children told
Their misery in a wan and wasted look.
And pest and hunger there went hand in hand,
Invisible but strong, and some went mad,
While good men licked their lips, and looking bland
Over their port, allowed the times were bad.
Invisible but strong, and some went mad,
While good men licked their lips, and looking bland
Over their port, allowed the times were bad.
| The Poetical Works of Walter C. Smith | |