The Poetical Works of Laman Blanchard With a Memoir by Blanchard Jerrold |
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THE YOUNG GLEANER.
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 | The Poetical Works of Laman Blanchard |  |
206
THE YOUNG GLEANER.
Her task had been a weary one,
To stoop all day for ears of corn;
All day beneath the harvest-sun;
Yet looks she not forlorn.
To stoop all day for ears of corn;
All day beneath the harvest-sun;
Yet looks she not forlorn.
Her feet are sore, her limbs are weak,
She leans fatigued against the stile;
Her lips are parched, and yet her cheek
Half dimples with a smile.
She leans fatigued against the stile;
Her lips are parched, and yet her cheek
Half dimples with a smile.
Although her task is done, although
Her arms have dropped their yellow store,
Her heart, untired, would freely go
Back to the field for more.
Her arms have dropped their yellow store,
Her heart, untired, would freely go
Back to the field for more.
The spirit of the girl is glad,
You see it looking through her eyes;
Sweet Gleaner, she could not be sad
Beneath such lovely skies.
You see it looking through her eyes;
Sweet Gleaner, she could not be sad
Beneath such lovely skies.
Though wide the field, though hot the ground,
To gather up her golden spoil,
While Heaven seemed smiling all around,
Was pleasure more than toil.
To gather up her golden spoil,
While Heaven seemed smiling all around,
Was pleasure more than toil.
207
The morning breeze, the midday calm,
The shower, the blue that o'er her shone,
She felt them on her heart as balm,
And sung and gathered on.
The shower, the blue that o'er her shone,
She felt them on her heart as balm,
And sung and gathered on.
To glean what those who gleaned before
Had left, seemed all her soul desired;
And till her long day's task was o'er,
She knew not she was tired.
Had left, seemed all her soul desired;
And till her long day's task was o'er,
She knew not she was tired.
And now, what waits her homeward way?
Delicious rest and slumbers deep;
These three compose her night and day,
Sweet toil, sweet rest, sweet sleep.
Delicious rest and slumbers deep;
These three compose her night and day,
Sweet toil, sweet rest, sweet sleep.
Oh! blest, midst those whom man's hard will
Condemns to slavery's ceaseless care,
Are ye who, task-worn, labour still
Out in the open air!
Condemns to slavery's ceaseless care,
Are ye who, task-worn, labour still
Out in the open air!
Gleaner, thy grief may be assuaged,
Compared with hers thy tasks are mild,
That trampled flower, that bird encaged,
The pent-up Factory child.
Compared with hers thy tasks are mild,
That trampled flower, that bird encaged,
The pent-up Factory child.
1836.
| The Poetical Works of Laman Blanchard | |