Classic Poem

A BALLAD .

Keen and cold is the blast loudly whistling around:
As cold are the lips that once smiled upon me;
And unyielding, alas! as this hard-frozen ground,
The arms once so ready my shelter to be.
Both my parents are dead, and few friends I can boast,
But few to console and to love me, if any;
And my gains are so small,....a bare pittance at most
Repays the exertions of fatherless Fanny.
Once indeed I with pleasure and patience could toil,....
But 'twas when my parents sat by and approved;
Then my laces to sell I went out with a smile,
Because my fatigue fed the parents I loved,
And at night, when I brought them my hardly earned gains,
Though small they might be, still my comforts were many;
For my mother's fond blessing rewarded my pains,
My father stood watching to welcome his Fanny.

But, ah! now that I work by their presence uncheered,
I feel 'tis a hardship indeed to be poor,
While I shrink from the labour no longer endeared,
And sigh as I knock at the wealthy man's door.

Then, alas! when at night I return to my home,
No longer I boast that my comforts are many;
To a silent, deserted, dark dwelling I come,
Where no one exclaims " Thou art welcome, my Fanny."

That, that is the pang;....want and toil would impart
No pang to my breast, if kind friends I could see;
For the wealth I require is that of the heart,
The smiles of affection are riches to me.
Then, ye wealthy, O think, when to you I apply
To purchase my goods, though you do not buy any,
If in accents of kindness you deign to deny,
You 'll comfort the heart of poor fatherless Fanny.