 | Poems Lyrical and Dramatic |  |
207
MAZZINI.
A little child of thrice three years or less,
Walking beside his mother through the town;
An agèd beggar, weather-worn and brown,
Seated before a church in cold distress:
Walking beside his mother through the town;
An agèd beggar, weather-worn and brown,
Seated before a church in cold distress:
The child paused wondering at his squalid dress
('Twas his first walk abroad), and, looking down,
With tender pity scanned the withered frown—
Can my glad world contain such loneliness?
('Twas his first walk abroad), and, looking down,
With tender pity scanned the withered frown—
Can my glad world contain such loneliness?
Then to the beggar-man the young child ran,
As 'twere his father crouched by the church door,
Threw arms about his neck and o'er him bowed:
And to the woman said the agèd man,
“Love well this child, for he shall love the poor,”
And wept, and young Mazzini sobbed aloud.
As 'twere his father crouched by the church door,
Threw arms about his neck and o'er him bowed:
And to the woman said the agèd man,
“Love well this child, for he shall love the poor,”
And wept, and young Mazzini sobbed aloud.
| Poems Lyrical and Dramatic | |