| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| Earth |
| | | William Caldwell Roscoe (1823–59) |
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| SAD is my lot; among the shining spheres | |
| Wheeling, I weave incessant day and night, | |
| And ever, in my never-ending flight, | |
| Add woes to woes, and count up tears on tears. | |
| Young wives’ and new-born infants’ hapless biers | 5 |
| Lie on my breast, a melancholy sight; | |
| Fresh griefs abhor my fresh returning light; | |
| Pain and remorse and want fill up my years. | |
| My happier children’s farther-piercing eyes | |
| Into the blessed solvent future climb, | 10 |
| And knit the threads of joy and hope and warning; | |
| But I, the ancient mother, am not wise, | |
| And, shut within the blind obscure of time, | |
| Roll on from morn to night, and on from night to morning. | |
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