Punch: Punch (81.1881)

2

PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

[July 9, 1881.

THE CHILDREN'S CRY.

Before the beautiful year 'grows old, and sunlight fades upon sea
and land,

Whilst fields have colour and gardens gold, and holiday crowds move
hand in hand;

"When over the meadows they toss the hay, and poppies appear in

the waving wheat,
When the silent forest is passing sad, and the breath of summer is

piercing sweet;

When a sigh goes forth from the working town, and a whisper comes
from the fields and hills,

And the whirl of wheels for an instant stops, and the pace is over
that cures or kills;

'Tis then, my Brothers, and Sisters too, we each of us owe a tremen-
dous debt,

When we hurry away from the London roar, and leave the eyes of

the children wet:
A debt we owe, and it must be paid to the utmost letter—I '11 tell

you why,

The summer brings sorrow to way-worn feet,—and this is the reason
the children cry!

Three children sat in a London Square, in front of a house with the

blinds drawn down,
"Are they dead," said one, "in the rooms up there?" "JTo,"

answered the other ; "they 're out of town !
They've hurried the dear little family off with their spades, and

pails, and their seaside hats,
They've locked the garden and left us here with the empty cabs and

the starving cats.
It isn't for us to be pale and thin, when we 're given in charge of the

sweltering streets,
For they give us a peep, between bars, at trees, and permit us to

huddle on doorstep seats.
If it wasn't so dreadfully wrong to ask, we'd like to know where the

roses grow,

And if it be true there are distant hills away in a wonderful land,
you know,

Where it's green as far as the eye can see, where the wind blows

sweet and the fields are wide.
Will nobody say where the country is?" As nobody answered, the

children cried!