THE LAST OF THE FLOCK.
No peace, no comfort could I ?nd,
A little lamb, and then its mother!
Hard labour in a time of need!
They throve, and we at home did thrive.
For me it was a woeful day.
Is all that is alive:
And other sheep from her I raised,
And in his arms a lamb he had.
--This lusty lamb of all my store
As healthy sheep as you might see,
I prayed, yet every day I thought
From ten to ?ve, from ?ve to three,
A lamb, a weather, and a ewe;
For me it was a woeful day.
And every week, and every day,
I wished they all were gone:
The pretty ?ock which I had reared
As ifwww•99lib•net he wished himself to hide:
And now I care not if we die,
THE LAST OF THE FLOCK.
They cried, "what to the poor is due?"
To see the end of all my gains,
He makes my tears to ?ow.
And I may say that many a time
To wicked deeds I was inclined,
To-day I fetched it from the rock;
"Do this; how can we give to you,"
I loved my children less;
Year after year my stock it grew,
For me it was a woeful day.
And wicked fancies crossd my mind,
And of my ?fty, yesterday
But such a one, on English ground,
Sir! twas a precious ?ock to me,
Along the broad high-way he came,
Of sheep I numberd a full score,
As dear as my own children be;
I followd him, and said, "My friend
In distant countries I have been,
Till thirty were not left alive
And crazily, and wearily,
To-day I fetched him from the rock;
Sturdy he seemed, though he was sad;
He is the last of all my ?ock.
I went my work about.
For daily with my growing store
Like blood-drops from my heart they droppd.
To see it melt like snow away!
His cheeks with tears were wet.
Full ?fty comely shee九九藏书p I raised,
He saw me, and he turned aside,
My ?ock, it seemed to melt away.
God cursed me in my sore distress,
And then at last, from three to two;
To wipe those briny tears away.
And yet I have not often seen
With all my care and pains,
And they were healthy with their food;
No ease, within doors or without,
And in the broad high-way, I met;
Though little given to care and thought,
They dwindled, Sir, sad sight to see!
They dwindled one by one away;
And after youthful follies ran,
As sweet a ?ock as ever grazed!
And bought my little children bread
九*九*藏*书*网
,I sold a sheep as they had said,
And here it lies upon my arm,
Alas! and I have none;
And perish all of poverty.
Alas! it was an evil time;
My sheep upon the mountain fed,
I thought he knew some ill of me
And from this one, this single ewe,
For me it never did me good.
My pride was tamed, and in our grief,
They said I was a wealthy man;
Weep in the public roads alone.
And every man I chancd to see,
And every year encreasd my store.
"What ails you? wherefore weep you so?"
Then with his coat he made essay
I of the parish askd relief.
Upon the moun99lib•nettain did they feed;
When I was young, a single man.
As I could wish to be;
Yet, so it was, a ewe I bought;
Another still! and still another!
And it was ?t that thence I took
It was a vein that never stoppd,
Ten children, Sir! had I to feed,
A healthy man, a man full grown
I had but only one,
Oft-times I thought to run away;
A woeful time it was for me,
And then I married, and was rich
Whereof to buy us bread:"
--"Shame on me, Sir! this lusty lamb,
It is the last of all my ?ock."
They dwindled, dwindled, one by one,
I loved my children more and more.