 | Voices from the Lakes, and Other Poems |  |
161
SONNET. RIZPAH.
Oh, mother's love, how strong thou art, how true!Five weary months sat Rizpah by her dead,
The sackcloth-covered rock her only bed,
From which she rose her watching to renew,
And cared not whether fell the evening dew,
Or burning sun beat hotly on her head,
So long as her two sons, exposed to view,
Hung on the cross. With quick, unsleeping eye,
She drove the lions from their hoped for prey,
And scared the vultures, swooping in the sky;
And ever thro' the lonely night and day
She, at life's risk, chased bird and beast away,
For love's sake, willing she herself should die;
On her crushed heart such burden did she lay.
| Voices from the Lakes, and Other Poems | |