The Poetical Works of William Lisle Bowles Vol. 2. Bowles William Lisle

which his father trod, he so grew up

      Contented, till old Time had blanched his locks,

      And he was borne – whilst the bell tolled – to sleep

      In the same churchyard where his father slept!

      His daughter walked content, and innocent

      As lovely, in her lowly path. She turned

      The hour-glass, while the humming wheel went round,

      Or went "a-Maying" o'er the fields in spring,

      Leading her little brother by the hand,

      Along the village lane, and o'er the stile,

      To gather cowslips; and then home again,

      To turn her wheel, contented, through the day.

      Or, singing low, bend where her brother slept,

      Rocking the cradle, to "sweet William's grave!"25

      No lure could tempt her from the woodbine shed,

      Where she grew up, and folded first her hands

      In infant prayer: yet oft a tear would steal

      Down her young cheek, to think how desolate

      That home would be when her poor mother died;

      Still praying that she ne'er might cause a pain,

      Undutiful, to "bring down her gray hairs

      With sorrow to the grave!"

      Now mark this scene!

      The fuming factory's polluted air

      Has stained the country! See that rural nymph,

      An infant in her arms! She claims the dole

      From the cold parish, which her faithless swain

      Denies: he stands aloof, with clownish leer;

      The constable behind – and mark his brow —

      Beckons the nimble clerk; the justice, grave,

      Turns from his book a moment, with a look

      Of pity, signs the warrant for her pay,

      A weekly eighteen pence; she, unabashed,

      Slides from the room, and not a transient blush,

      Far less the accusing tear, is on her cheek!

      A different scene comes next: That village maid

      Approaches timidly, yet beautiful;

      A tear is on her lids, when she looks down

      Upon her sleeping child. Her heart was won,

      The wedding-day was fixed, the ring was bought!

      'Tis the same story – Colin was untrue!

      He ruined, and then left her to her fate.

      Pity her, she has not a friend on earth,

      And that still tear speaks to all human hearts

      But his, whose cruelty and treachery

      Caused it to flow! So crime still follows crime.

      Ask we the cause? See, where those engines heave,

      That spread their giant arms o'er all the land!

      The wheel is silent in the vale! Old age

      And youth are levelled by one parish law!

      Ask why that maid, all day, toils in the field,

      Associate with the rude and ribald clown,

      Even in the shrinking April of her youth?

      To earn her loaf, and eat it by herself.

      Parental love is smitten to the dust;

      Over a little smoke the aged sire

      Holds his pale hands – and the deserted hearth

      Is cheerless as his heart: but Piety

      Points to the Bible! Shut the book again:

      The ranter is the roving gospel now,

      And each his own apostle! Shut the book:

      A locust-swarm of tracts darken its light,

      And choke its utterance; while a Babel-rout

      Of mock-religionists, turn where we will,

      Have drowned the small still voice, till Piety,

      Sick of the din, retires to pray alone.

      But though abused Religion, and the dole

      Of pauper-pay, and vomitories huge

      Of smoke, are each a steam-engine of crime,

      Polluting, far and wide, the wholesome air,

      And withering life's green verdure underneath,

      Full many a poor and lowly flower of want

      Has Education nursed, like a pure rill,

      Winding through desert glens, and bade it live

      To grace the cottage with its mantling sweets.

      There was a village girl, I knew her well,

      From five years old and upwards; all her friends

      Were dead, and she was to the workhouse left,

      And there a witness to such sounds profane

      As might turn virtue pale! When Sunday came,

      Assembled with the children of the poor,

      Upon the lawn of my own parsonage,

      She stood among them: they were taught to read

      In companies and groups, upon the green,

      Each with its little book; her lighted eyes

      Shone beautiful where'er they turned; her form

      Was graceful; but her book her sole delight!26

      Instructed thus she went a serving-maid

      Into the neighbouring town, – ah! who shall guide

      A friendless maid, so beautiful and young,

      From life's contagions! But she had been taught

      The duties of her humble lot, to pray

      To God, and that one heavenly Father's eye

      Was over rich and poor! On Sunday night,

      She read her Bible, turning still away

      From those who flocked, inflaming and inflamed,

      To nightly meetings; but she never closed

      Her eyes, or raised them to the light of morn,

      Without a prayer to Him who "bade the sun

      Go forth," a giant, from his eastern gate!

      No art, no bribe, could lure her steps astray

      From the plain path, and lessons she had learned,

      A village child. She is a mother now,

      And lives to prove the blessings and the fruits

      Of moral duty, on the poorest child,

      When duty, and when sober piety,

      Impressing the young heart, go hand in hand.

      No villager was then a disputant

      In Calvinistic and contentious creeds;

      No pale mechanic, from a neighbouring sink

      Of steam and rank debauchery and smoke,

      Crawled forth upon a Sunday morn, with looks

      Saddening the very sunshine, to instruct

      The parish poor in evangelic lore;

      To teach them to cast off, "as filthy rags,"

      Good works! and listen to such

25

Vide the old ballad.

26

A book, called the "Villager's Verse Book," to excite the first feelings of religion, from common rural imagery, was written on purpose for these children.