Sacramento daily record-union., 1883-09-14

Cold, cruel winter, bring still your vast hordes
| OF snowfakes, armed with shield OF white,
That pierce me with their lance Of chiliness
| Yet, even they have pity for when they strike
/ Upon my cheek, they melt into soft tears.
Zach hurrying cloud Of Heaven grows black with
anger,
| To see me here !; a poor, weak thing,
| hat never wished them harm And, in
Each corner OF these stony buildings, winds
| Do howl and hiss al me. Oh all the world
has grown my enemy. How cold how cold It is
| Three days ago-three icy, freezing days
| Was it three days? But will see it Low
! Is night and then there WIS another night,
| And then there were three cold cold days,
| When never sun did deign to smile on me
Three days? three days? and then two chilly
No; how was it? Counts on her iugers.l
/ fear my weary brain
Is husbed to sleep by this hard winters wind
But now fm free Oh fres fre free But what
is free?
Tell me ye pretty things-white- breasted SHOWS.
Aad are ye free7 Methinks, then, it IS wrong
To let all things be free there's one thing, though
There is a tyr mt govern ng in the Torld-
His name is Hunger. Oh in hungry. and
So cold yet Will try to drag me on
lGets up and moves or
Perhaps there is humanity in the world yet
lStops surprised At finding herself at the end
Of the wharf.
And is this now the end
Where goest thou, thou deep and rushing tide ?
aud canst thou lead me where there Is no pain!
What no answer here but stiffness deep!
We're l 70 take this leap, muddy bottom
Would deep down rest on. And then Id die,
And my poor useless hands would sway about
To every motion Of the silent water;
And then the fish would come u cape down at,
And see themselves in my wide staring eyes
Ana then, affrighted, they would dart away
The moving tide would take me, inch By inch,
TIL all alone rested in the ocean:
And there, perchaucs,
I'd lay me 'twixt two whitened skeletons
OF sailors, deed tong centuries ago
And there we'd lie, and rattle our dead bones
UuIl the Judgment Day. ct this is better
Than the hard, cruel warld III take the leap
Enter U. z Catherine, who crepps up and lays her
hand on her shoulder
Catherine Nay, what is this Have you a thou
sand lives,
To cast one off at every childish fancy7
Look up at me, my cheeks are sunk like yours
And hunger, too, hath sunken in my eyes,
Till they seem resting in two open tombs
Come now with me nay think no more on death
III pity thee, and will be thy friend =
have not food, nor kindly shelter Tor thee;
But, STILL | have a heart, from which all warmth
Is not Yet driven Ny this icy winter
Come, let thy thoughts OF death be banished
JOS Thou art an angel, sent from Heaven down
To save me from this rashness was like
One walking in dream.
And when
You spoke the spell was broken that fast bound me.
You spoke but now OF hard msiortunes that
Had happened to You; tell them now to me.
That we may gently bear with one another
Cath You'd hear nay tale tbs not pretty tale
OF how lover wood and prospeTd;
Bat how he wood, and how, with cruelty,
He crushed the rose when broken from the stem
had home once, like those We may see
When, hungrily, you wander Christmas nights,
From the cold streets, to see the happy faces
That past the windows fit with looks OF Joy.
Once my face, too, did through window shine
Lit by the souls SOFT light, the light of happiness
hat hRftaa il for a faf fad t,feh
did present this hand to one who ne'er
Laid aught of value on the gift | gave;
But ever grew to hate me more and more;
l know not why-I never did know why;
But oft noticed when his face was turned
From me away, and bore a smile upon it,
That smile swift vanished il he looked towards me,
And angry hate spraug quickly to his eyes
And then, at times, he'd strike me in the face,
And laugh TO see the darkened spot come there
One night he took me to gloomy street.
And pierced ne with a chilly -bladed dagger
Nay, but when he did think the breath gone,
he called me back, aud wept so piteously,
That though my mouth could not, my heart for
gave HIM.
JOS Forgive the man that in his cruelty
Did stab thee with achilly-bladed daggerl
Cath. Ay, for my love such love, that it
Did call a thousand small excuses up,
That plead for him. with words SO filed with music,
That they did calm my frowning soul, that judged
Until it gave the sentence of forgiveness
Jos. Aud where is he, thy cruel husband, now
Can. My ear mas grown a-Weary, waiting long
To have some bird-hke message light on it,
To whisper to me OF his whereabouts.
Oh, do fear that viii never never meet again
Jos How strong is woman love %, God :! how
freezing
Is grown this dark nights wind in listening to
Thy sorrows had | ev'n forgot the wind.
lSJom increases.
Cath l know place that lends far better
shelter
Than this one does; then come and let US thither;
Well lie together and may both keep warm
END of Act IL
[Act III. merit meek