Iowa capitol reporter. [volume] (Iowa City, Iowa) 1841-1855, 1848-04-26
The Goddess Of Proverty.
Translated from the French Of Madame Dudevant
by Mrs. NJ. L. CHILDISH

The Goddess of Proverty.
Translated from the French of Madame Dudevant
by Mrs. NJ. L. Childs.l
Paths sanded with gold, verdant heaths,
ravines loved by the wild goats, great
mountains crowned with stars, wander
ing torrents, impenetrable forests, let the
good goddess pass through, the Goddess
Of Poverty!
Since the world existed, since men have
been, she traverses the world, she dwells
among men; she travels singing, and she
sings working goddess, the good
Goddess of Poverty!
Some men assembled to curse her.
They found her too beautiful, too gay,
too nimble, and too strong. g Pluck
out her WINGS" said they; ''chain her,
bruise her with blows, that she may suf-
fer, that she may perish-the Goddess Of
Poverty!
They have chained the good goddess,
they beaten and prosecuted her, they have
cannot disgrace her. She has taken ref
uge in the souls Of poets, in the souls OF
peasants, in the souls of martyrs, in the
souls Of sinners-the good goddess, the
Goddess of Poverty!
She has walked more than the wander
ing Jew; she has travelled more than the
swallow; she is older than the cathedral
of Prague; she is younger than the egg OF
the wren; she has multiplied more upon
the earth thanstrawberries in Bohemian
forests-the goddess, the good Goddess OF
Poverty!
She has many children and she teaches
them the secret of God. She talked to the
heart Of Jesus, upon the maintain; to the
eyes Of Queen Libussa, when she became
enamorcd of laborer; to the spirit OF
John and jerome, upon the funeral pile Of
Constance. She knows more than all the
doctors and all tbs bishops--the god God
dess of Poverty!
She always makes the grandest and
most beautiful things that we see upon the
earth; it is she who has cultivated the
fields and pruned the trees; it is she
who tends the focks, singing the most
beautiful airs; it is she who sees the first
peep of dawn, and receives the last smile
Of eyening-lthe good Goddess of Poverty
1t is she who inspires the poet, and
makes the violin, the guitar and the flute,
eloquent under the fingers Of the wander
ing artist; it is she who carries him on
her light wing, from the source of the
Moldeau to that of the Danube; it is she
who crowns his hair with pearls, and
makes the stars shine for him more large
and more clear-the goddess, the good
Goddess of Poverty!
1t is she who instructs the ingenious
artisan; who teaches him to hew stone, to
carve marble, to fashion gold, silver, brass
and iron; it is she who renders the flax
supple and fine as hair, from the fingers
of the old mother, or of the young girl
the good Goddess of Poverty!
It is she who sustains the cottage sha-
ken by the storm; it is she who saves ros-
in for the torch and oil for the lamp it is
she who kneads bread for the family and
weaves garments for summer and winter;
it is she who feeds and maintains the world
the QOOu 0UuCSS VI L USClIy
It is she who has built the grand chur-
ches and the old cathedrals; it is she who
carries the sabre and the gun, who makes
war and conquests; it is she who collects
the dead, tends the wounded and hides
the conquerred-the good Goddess Of
Poverty!
Thou art all gentleness, all patience, all
strength and all compassion, o, good God
dess! 1t is thou who unitest all thy chill
dren in holy love, and who givest them
faith, hope, and charity-O, Goddess Of
Poverty!
Thy children will cease, one day, to
carry the world upon their shoulders; they
will be reeompensed for their trouble and
toll The time approaches when they will
be neither rich nor poor; when all men
shall consume the fruits Of the earth and
equally enjoy the gifts of God; but thou
wilt not be forgotten in their hymns-O,
good Goddess Of Poverty!
They will remember that thou vert
their fruitful mother, their robust nurse,
and their church militant. They will pour
balm upon thy wounds, and they will make
the reiuvenated and embalmed earth bed
where thou canst at last repose---O, good
Goddess Of Poverty!
Until the day Of the Lord, torrents and
forests, mountains and valleys, heaths
swarming with little flowers and little
birds, paths which have no masters, and
.anded with gold---let pass the good god
dess---O, Goddess Of Poverty!