THE PRISONER'S SOLILOQUY,

Observer, Volume 7, Issue 231, 14 February 1885, Page 8

THE PRISONER'S SOLILOQUY,

(Written for the '"Observer.") ■"Mnn's inbumiinity to man makes countless thousands , = mourn "— Bdrns. ■ ■ ■-... [The fq^owing lines were suggested to the writer after reading" " His Natural Life," by Marcus Clark.] Wearily closes the lagging day, .... M . Drearily soundeth the prison bell, Scaring the angel of mercy away From the shrouded gloom of the. convict's ' cell!' l % How sl§\v th'eTJdead march of old Time drags - OU ! • . ■ , : ;. . : . . Filling: my brow- with deep furrows of care, Corroding my heart till all hope is gone, Shedding its frost on my bristling hair. . All cold without, all callous. within — , Buried, alive iv ; my vigorous prime — A scapegoat, laden with sorrow and sin, j / tLost in a wilderness reeking with crime. "Fools !. do you think that the contrite heart Can thrive on the gloom of the haunted cell, When all your canting, incompetent art Goads the disconsolate soul to rebel ? ■ Rejected in scorn by my fellow man, My doom pronounced by the lips of Pride, Dare I h'dpe, at , the close of life's darkened . fpan. '" For mercy — by arrogant man denied ? Is the bridgeless gulf of sin so wide That separates me from my fellow worm ? X)o his failings all " lean to Virtue's side " ? Is his staunch integrity always firm ? •Judge not ! ye sanctified vessels of grace. That scoff at the sufferer's desolate moan ; Turn not in disdain from his pleading'face, Ye saints, that are ready to cast the stone. Ages and ages have winged their flight Since Sin in this sorrowful world appeared In the sacred bowers of Eden bright, And its loathsome head at our parents reared. '■Since " them shalt bruise his heel " Avas said, How plainly the Serpent's trail we trace — How surely its subtle poison is spread Through every pulse of our fallen race ! For who has escaped its insidious taints ? Proud " Judges in Israel," can ye tell ? Ye. with hearts of marble and tongues of saints, Ghouls of the gibbet, the shackle and cell, Whose rigidly righteous countenance beams O'er ramifications of legal lore. But how different all your .Justice seems From His, Avho said, " Go, and sin no more " ; "Who turned not away from the penitent's tear, .'But stretched forth his hand to succour and save ; • Who, with words of comfort and kindly cheer. The soul-stricken Magdalen s sins forgave ! ; * * - * r * When the last Grand Sessions shall open wide 1 The groniiinii 1 portals of 'every g.-tol. When the Judge and the Felon stand side by side, Will the money-bought cause of Dives ]>revail ? ;;. To whom will he yield the iniquitous fee? What force, will his pompous impoteucy bring . ' . To bear on his case, should lit* fail to bo. - iH , _ , r ,C9,uim l eu.dod v to,ineVcy by .Christ- the. King ! • ■ k. Kangaroo. Kcre Kere, Feb. 2. !