 | Reuben and Other Poems |  |
For thirty years of lonely widow-hood
She strove to make ends meet as best she could,
Her chief support one small milk-cow that housed
Within a little byre at night, and browsed
All day among the whins, or took a turn
About the herby borders of the burn:
And if she straggled from the widow's ken
A gentle calling brought her back again.
And duly as the milking time came round,
The little beast would at the door be found,
Crooning of well-fill'd udders. Little need
The widow had for watching, and indeed
Long hours within the willow shade would sit,
Or on some hillock, in the sun, and knit
The coarse gray woollen stockings, which she sold
About the village when the days grew cold.—
This, with her scanty butter, milk and cheese,
Made up her little stock-in-trade: and these
Found ready market; for 'twas thought and said,
The natural herbs whereon her cow was fed
Gave to the milk rare virtues, and in turn
The products of her chizzard and her churn.
She strove to make ends meet as best she could,
Her chief support one small milk-cow that housed
Within a little byre at night, and browsed
All day among the whins, or took a turn
About the herby borders of the burn:
And if she straggled from the widow's ken
A gentle calling brought her back again.
189
The little beast would at the door be found,
Crooning of well-fill'd udders. Little need
The widow had for watching, and indeed
Long hours within the willow shade would sit,
Or on some hillock, in the sun, and knit
The coarse gray woollen stockings, which she sold
About the village when the days grew cold.—
This, with her scanty butter, milk and cheese,
Made up her little stock-in-trade: and these
Found ready market; for 'twas thought and said,
The natural herbs whereon her cow was fed
Gave to the milk rare virtues, and in turn
The products of her chizzard and her churn.
| Reuben and Other Poems | |