Mary Howitt's Complete Poetical Works Author:Mary Botham Howitt General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1858 Original Publisher: Wentworth, Hewes Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you ca... more »n select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: THE SALE OP THE PET LAMB. On! poverty is a weary thing, 'tis full of grief and pain; It boweth down the heart of man, and dulls his cunning brain; It maketh even the little child with heavy sighs complain. The children of the rich man have not their bread to win; They scarcely know how labor is the penalty of sin; Even as the lilies of the field, they neither toil nor spin. And year by year, as life wears on, no wants have they to bear; In all the luxury of the earth they have abundant share ; They walk along life's pleasant ways, where all is rich and fair. The children of the poor man, though they be young each one, Must rise betime each morning, before the rising sun ; And scarcely when the sun is set their daily task is done. Few things have they to call their own, to fill their hearts with pride, The sunshine and the summer flowers upon the highway side, And their own free companionship on heathy commons wide. Hunger, and cold, and weariness, these are a frightful three; But another curse there is beside, that darkens poverty, It may not have one thing to love, how small soe'er it be. A thousand flocks were on the hills, a thousand flocks and more, Feeding in sunshine pleasantly ; they were the rich man's store : There was the while one little lamb beside a cottage door; A little lamb that rested with the children 'neath the tree, That ate, meek creature, from their hands, and nestled to their knee ; That had a place within their hearts, one of the family. But want, even as an armed man, came down upon their shed,...« less