Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By Robert BurnsWilson

1050 The Sunrise of the Poor

A DARKENED hut outlined against the sky,

A forward-looking slope,—some cedar trees,

Gaunt grasses stirred by the awaking breeze,

And nearer, where the grayer shadows lie,

Within a small paled square, one may descry

The beds wherein the Poor first taste of ease,

Where dewy rose-vines drop their spicy lees

Above the dreamless ashes, silently.

A lonely woman leans there,—bent and gray:

Outlined in part against the shadowed hill,

In part against the sky, in which the day

Begins to blaze. O earth, so sweet,—so still!—

The woman sighs, and draws a long, deep breath:

It is the call to labor,—not to death.