Blackberries :: :: University of Virginia Library

Blackberries

by William Allingham

Allingham, William (1824-1889)

[epigraph]

[dedication]

[section]

[Earth's night is where she rolls]

[By and by, we shall meet]

[Here they are: how little they are!]

[Pleasure, torture, victory, crime,—]

[“Weary your life was, day by day]

[How swift the days do pass!]

[Hast ever chanced to stare aghast]

[Dull and dumb]

[Perception, Will, Personality]

[Why ever asking “why?” you cry; and I]

[Needs and greeds and ties and lies]

[Out of the land of dreams and youth, alas!]

[Lost chance—never again]

[Soon life ends]

[Who will sorrow when I die?]

[Do what wilt with me]

[“I'm learning, every day.”]

[section]

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[Shame upon those who poison youth]

Shame upon those who poison youth
By mixing falsehood with every truth.
Shame! shame! whatever their name;
And the deepest curse for the highest claim!