 | Rhymes with reason and without |  |
155
SILVER VS. TIN;
OR, CHILDHOOD IN ITS CUPS.
I saw a rich man's child, with gloomy air,
Holding a silver cup within her hand,
The cup well filled with some rich beverage rare,
Mixed by a maid who by her side did stand;
With petulance she raised the honeyed drink,
And, quicker than the eye the thought could trace,
Ere the meek maiden had a chance to wink,
Dash went the sweetening in her patient face!
I thought within myself that, should it come,
And I'd a child like that, I'd give it “some.”
Holding a silver cup within her hand,
The cup well filled with some rich beverage rare,
Mixed by a maid who by her side did stand;
With petulance she raised the honeyed drink,
And, quicker than the eye the thought could trace,
Ere the meek maiden had a chance to wink,
Dash went the sweetening in her patient face!
I thought within myself that, should it come,
And I'd a child like that, I'd give it “some.”
I saw a poor man's child, with cup of tin,
Sitting and singing by her father's door;
Treacle and water were the cup within,—
Treacle quite tart, the water dreadful poor;
And as the child trilled forth a cheerful note,—
(“O, don't you cry, Susannah,” was the tune),—
Anon she moistenéd her little throat
By small libations from an iron spoon;
And here methought that silver could not buy
The happiness that glistened in her eye.
Sitting and singing by her father's door;
Treacle and water were the cup within,—
Treacle quite tart, the water dreadful poor;
And as the child trilled forth a cheerful note,—
(“O, don't you cry, Susannah,” was the tune),—
Anon she moistenéd her little throat
By small libations from an iron spoon;
And here methought that silver could not buy
The happiness that glistened in her eye.
| Rhymes with reason and without | |