Pity the sorrows of a poor old man!
Whose trembling limbs have borne him to your door,
Whose days are dwindled to the shortest span,
O, give relief, and Heaven will bless your store.
These tattered clothes my poverty bespeak,
These hoary locks proclaim my lengthened years;
And many a furrow in my grief-worn cheek
Has been the...
Talk with prudence to a Beggar
Of "Potose," and the mines!
Reverently, to the Hungry
Of your viands, and your wines!
Cautious, hint to any Captive
You have passed enfranchised feet!
Anecdotes of air in Dungeons
Have sometimes proved deadly sweet!
The Beggar at the Door for Fame
Were easily supplied
But Bread is that Diviner thing
Disclosed to be denied
The Beggar Lad — dies early —
It's Somewhat in the Cold —
And Somewhat in the Trudging feet —
And haply, in the World —
The Cruel — smiling — bowing World —
That took its Cambric Way —
Nor heard the timid cry for "Bread" —
"Sweet Lady — Charity" —
Among Redeemed...
I.
WHILE cruel to your wishing slave,
You still refuse the boon I crave,
Confess, what joy that precious pearl
Conveys to thee, my lovely girl?
II.
Dost thou not act the miser's part,
Who with an aching, lab'ring heart,
Counts the dull joyless shining...
When a Lover is a Beggar
Abject is his Knee —
When a Lover is an Owner
Different is he —
What he begged is then the Beggar —
Oh disparity —
Bread of Heaven resents bestowal
Like an obloquy —
DEAR little, pretty, fav'rite ore,
That once increas'd Gloriana's store;
That lay within her bosom bless'd,
Gods might have envied thee thy nest.
I've read, imperial Jove of old
For love transform'd himself to gold:
And why, for a more lovely lass,
May he not now have...
