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Alas! for the rarity
Of Christian charity
Under the sun!
Oh! it was pitiful
Near a whole city full
Home she had none !

Sisterly, brotherly,
Fatherly, motherly

Feelings had changed:
Love, by harsh evidence,
Thrown from its eminence;

Even God's providence
Seeming estranged.

Where the lamps quiver

So far in the river,

With many a light

From window and casement,

From garret to basement,

She stood with amazement

Houseless by night.

The bleak winds of March.

Made her tremble and shiver;

But not the dark arch,

Or the black flowing river.

Mad from life's history
Glad to death's mystery
Swift to be hurled --
Anywhere, anywhere,
Out of the world-
In she plunged boldly,
No matter how coldly
The rough river ran.

Take her up tenderly,

Lift her with care;

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My labor never flags;

And what are its wages? A bed of straw,

A crust of bread, — and rags.

That shattered roof, - and this naked floor,

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And a wall so blank, my shadow I thank

For sometimes falling there!

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As prisoners work for crime! Band, and gusset, and seam,

Seam, and gusset, and band,

Till the heart is sick, and the brain benumbed, As well as the weary hand.

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When the weather is warm and bright;

While underneath the eaves

The brooding swallows cling,

As if to show me their sunny backs,
And twit me with the Spring.

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