A book of Bristol sonnets | ||
86
TRUE LOVE;
OR, IN ST. JUDE'S.
I passed by blinded alley, choking street,The pale sky torn in ribands overhead,
By reeking barriers half-curtainéd,
The night-sky showed no starry sign complete!
Here, wedding jests did funeral mourners meet;
And here, for need, the poor man pawned his bed!
Weak mothers earned, strong fathers spent, the bread;
And the cold pavement hurt the children's feet!
Then, lady-love, thy vision in my soul
Changed my heart's sickness into sympathy!
For thee, the starving mother clutched the dole!
By thee, the barefoot children ceased their cry!
Thou saidst, thy fingers to the broken sky,
“Have faith; behold the Pointers and the Pole!”
A book of Bristol sonnets | ||