Flower Pieces and other poems By William Allingham: With two designs by Dante Gabriel Rossetti |
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THE POOR LITTLE MAIDEN. |
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 | Flower Pieces and other poems |  |
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THE POOR LITTLE MAIDEN.
I.
A gentle face and clear blue eyesThe little maiden hath, who plies
Her needle at her cottage door,
Or, with a comrade girl or more,
At times upon the hedgerow-grass.
I love to find her as I pass,—
Humbly contented, simply gay,
And singing sweetly; many a day
I've carried far along my way
From that fair infant's look and voice
A strength that made my soul rejoice.
II.
O sad! her father died last week;Her mother knows not where to seek
Five children's food; the little maid
Is far too young for others' aid.
Willingly would she do her best
To slave at strangers' rude behest;
But she is young and weak. Her thread,
From dawn till blinding rushlight sped,
Could never win her single bread.
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III.
And must the Workhouse save aliveThis Mother and her helpless five,
Where Guardians, no Angelic band,
With callous eye and pinching hand,
Receive the wretched of their kin,
Cursing the law that lets them in?
I see her growing pale and thin,
Poor Child; (the little needle-song
Is ended)—and perhaps ere long
Her coffin jolting in their cart
To where the paupers lie apart.
IV.
Just from that cottage-step one seesA Mansion with its lawn and trees,
Where man and wife are wearing old
In a wilderness of gold,
Amidst all luxuries and graces,
But the light of children's faces.
Ah, had the little Maid forlorn
In that fine house been only born,
How she were tended, night and morn!
A long-tail'd pony then were hers,
And winter mantles edged with furs,
And servants at her least command,
And wealthy suitors for her hand.
| Flower Pieces and other poems | |