CHARITY!

A POOR aud wife, iv a lonely room,
Sits biv hor-sel i' the darknin gloom;
I' the grate thor's just the faintest spark
Te frighten away the dreary dark.
There she sits till she totters te bed,
An' mony a day this life she's led;
Withoot a frind te cum near te speak,
She's starvin on fifteen-pence a week.
The parish allows her half-a-croon !
Half-a-croon i' this fiorishin toon !
Fifteen-pence she pays for the rent,
Hoo is the fifteen left te be spent?

Wi' prayer she welcums the mornin's leet;
Welcums the leet, tho' it bringsne meat;
Welcums the leet 0' the mornin gray,
Te sit biv hor-sel the lang weary day:
Tho' wishin her awn poor life away,
She clings tid still while she hes te stay;
For, oh, she knaws that she dissent disarve
Te finish her days like this-te starve!
An' ninety eers, if she leeves te see,
In a few short munths her age 'ill be;
Withoot a frind i; the world te say"
Canny aud wife, hoo are ye the day? "

Can ye compare this case te yor-sel?
An' bring te mind what aw cannet tell,
Yor daily wants that ye daily seek,
Supplied on the fifteen-pence a week.
Is this not eneuff te myek ye fear
Yor-sel an' bairns when yor end draws near?
Hopeless, helpless, she's not te complain,
But pine away in hunger an' pain.
Wad she iver dream that she'd leeve te see
An' poverty feel hard as it can be?
Thor's nowt te nourish, or nowt that cheers,
Her poor aud sowl i' declinin eers.

Wimmen 0' charity! Men 0' sense!
Hoo can she spend her fifteen-pence?
Can she afford te buy a bit coal
Te warm her hands, an' her heart console?
Hoo can she get what she stands i' need
Wi' hardly eneuff te buy her breed?
Oot 0' the poor-rates heavy they seek,
She's starvin on fifteen-pence a week.
The parish allows her half-a-croon!
Half-a-croon i' this florishin toon!
Fifteen-pence she pays for the rent,
Hoo is the fifteen left te be spent?

[Mrs. E., the subject of the above verses, during the latter end of 1873,
was unfortunately run over near Earl Grey's Monument, having her leg
broke through the accident, which renders the poor old woman doubly helpless.]

-Source: Joe Wilson, (author) Songs and Drolleries, 1890