 | Poetry for children |  |
Intemperance.
I saw a little girl
With half uncovered form,
And wondered why she wandered thus,
Amid the winter storm;
They said her mother drank
What took her sense away,
And so she let her children go
Hungry and cold all day.
With half uncovered form,
And wondered why she wandered thus,
Amid the winter storm;
69
What took her sense away,
And so she let her children go
Hungry and cold all day.
I saw them lead a man
To prison for his crime,
Where solitude, and punishment,
And toil divide the time;
And as they forc'd him through its gate
Unwillingly along,
They told me 'twas Intemperance
That made him do the wrong.
To prison for his crime,
Where solitude, and punishment,
And toil divide the time;
And as they forc'd him through its gate
Unwillingly along,
They told me 'twas Intemperance
That made him do the wrong.
I saw a woman weep
As if her heart would break;
They said her husband drank too much
Of what he should not take.
I saw an unfrequented mound
Where weeds and brambles wave;
They said no tear had fallen there,
It was a drunkard's grave.
As if her heart would break;
They said her husband drank too much
Of what he should not take.
I saw an unfrequented mound
Where weeds and brambles wave;
They said no tear had fallen there,
It was a drunkard's grave.
70
They said these were not all
The risks the intemperate run,
For there was danger lest the soul
Be evermore undone.
Water is very pure and sweet,
And beautiful to see,
And since it cannot do us harm,
It is the drink for me.
The risks the intemperate run,
For there was danger lest the soul
Be evermore undone.
Water is very pure and sweet,
And beautiful to see,
And since it cannot do us harm,
It is the drink for me.
| Poetry for children | |