 | The Triangular Society |  |
39
SHOVELLING SNOW.
A bountiful snowfall, over night,
And street and sidewalk are blocked with white—
And plied by many a sturdy hand,
The sound of the shovel is heard in the land—
Ah, hapless delvers, who rise at six,
To excavate for the buried bricks!
And street and sidewalk are blocked with white—
And plied by many a sturdy hand,
The sound of the shovel is heard in the land—
Ah, hapless delvers, who rise at six,
To excavate for the buried bricks!
Alas, the labors of shovel and spade
On all the railroads that ever were made,
Can never begin with the toilsome woe
Of muscle wasted in shovelling snow;—
And when all the winter's task is o'er,
The world is the same as it was before!
On all the railroads that ever were made,
Can never begin with the toilsome woe
Of muscle wasted in shovelling snow;—
And when all the winter's task is o'er,
The world is the same as it was before!
40
In all other digging under the sun,
There 's something gained by the labor done—
A well, a highway, a grave, a ditch,
Canal or garden, no matter which;
But what is there left to save or show
Of a winter's labor in shovelling snow?
There 's something gained by the labor done—
A well, a highway, a grave, a ditch,
Canal or garden, no matter which;
But what is there left to save or show
Of a winter's labor in shovelling snow?
Ah, struggle for triumph that never is won!
What does it come to, when all is done?
For after the toiler has blistered his palms,
And strained his shoulders and lamed his arms,
He has cleared with infinite toil and pain,
A place for the snow to fill again!
What does it come to, when all is done?
For after the toiler has blistered his palms,
And strained his shoulders and lamed his arms,
He has cleared with infinite toil and pain,
A place for the snow to fill again!
Three undertakings beneath the sun
Are never abandoned, and never done—
Though generations their lives expend,
They'll never be finished till time shall end;
These three, as many have cause to know,
Are house-work, kissing, and shovelling snow.
Are never abandoned, and never done—
Though generations their lives expend,
They'll never be finished till time shall end;
These three, as many have cause to know,
Are house-work, kissing, and shovelling snow.
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