Subject: Charity
From:
Conrad Bladey (Peasant- Inactive)
Date: 01 Apr 00 - 09:25 AM
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'nony 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 florishin toon!
Fifteen-pence she pays for the rent,
Hoo is the fifteen left to be spent? Wi' prayer she welcum's the mornin's leet;
Welcums the leet, tho' it brings ne meat;
Welcums the leet o' 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 to see;
In a few short munths her age'll be;
Withoot a frind i' the world te say--
Canny aud wife, hoo are ye the day? Can ye compare this case to yor-sel?
An' bring te mind that aw cannet tell,
Yor daily wants that ye daily seek,
Supplied on the fifteen-pence a week.
Is this not eneuff to 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 o' charity! Men o' sense!
Hoo cana she spend her fifteen-pence?
Can she afford te buy a bit coal
Te warm her hands an' hear heart console?
Hoo can she get what she stands i' need
Wi' hardly eneuff te buy her breed?
Oot o' 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? -Joe Wilson (Subject of the song: Mrs. E. at the
end of 1873 was run over near Earl Grey's Monument
and had her leg broken.
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