Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.

William Caldwell Roscoe 1823–59

Earth

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

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,

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.