Poor little
children!
Hugo - Poems
But then, like me, you ate
Food of a blessed _fete_--
The bread of _Liberty_!
H. L. W.
POOR LITTLE CHILDREN.
_("La femelle! elle est morte. ")_
[Bk. I. xiii. , Jersey, February, 1853. ]
Mother birdie stiff and cold,
Puss has hushed the other's singing;
Winds go whistling o'er the wold,--
Empty nest in sport a-flinging.
Poor little birdies!
Faithless shepherd strayed afar,
Playful dog the gadflies catching;
Wolves bound boldly o'er the bar,
Not a friend the fold is watching--
Poor little lambkins!
Father into prison fell,
Mother begging through the parish;
Baby's cot they, too, will sell,--
Who will now feed, clothe and cherish?
Poor little children!
APOSTROPHE TO NATURE.
_("O Soleil! ")_
[Bk. II. iv. , Anniversary of the Coup d'Etat, 1852. ]
O Sun! thou countenance divine!
Wild flowers of the glen,
Caves swoll'n with shadow, where sunshine
Has pierced not, far from men;
Ye sacred hills and antique rocks,
Ye oaks that worsted time,
Ye limpid lakes which snow-slide shocks
Hurl up in storms sublime;
And sky above, unruflfed blue,
Chaste rills that alway ran
From stainless source a course still true,
What think ye of this man?
NAPOLEON "THE LITTLE. "
_("Ah! tu finiras bien par hurler! ")_
[Bk. III. ii.
