SELECT POETRY.

Tuapeka Times, Volume V, Issue 233, 18 July 1872, Page 7

SELECT POETRY.

THE SOULS OF THE CHILDREN. " Who bids for the little childrenBody, and soul, and btain ? Who bids for the little childrenYoung and without a stain ? "Will no one bid," said England, '* For their souls so pure and white, And fit for all good or evil, The world on their page may write ?" " We bid," said Pest and Famine, " We bid for life and limb,: Fever, pain, and squalor, Their bright young eyes shall dim. When the children grow too many, We."ll nurse them as our own, Anrtj \de them in secret places, none niiy hear their moan." said Beggary, hbwling, " I bid for them, one and all ! I'll teach them a thousand lessons— To lie, to skulk, to crawl ! They shall sleep in my lair, like maggots, They shall vofc in the fair sun-shine ; And if they serve my purpose, I hope they'll answer thine." " And I'll bid higher and higher," Said Crime, with wolfish grin, "for I love to lead the children Through the pleasant paths of sin. Tliey shall swarm in the streets to pilfer. They shall plague the broad highwayTill they grow too old for pity, And ripe for the law to slay. " Prison, and bulk, and gallows, Are many in the land ; 'Tweie foJly not to use them, So pioudly as they stand. Give me the little children— I'll take them as they're born, And feed their evil passions With misery aud scorn. " Givt me the little children, Ye good, ye rich, ye wise, And let the busy world spin round, While ye shut your idle eyes ; And your judges shall have work, And your lawyers wag the tongue, And the gaolers and policemen Shall be fathers to the young, ",I and the Law, for pastime, Shall struggle day and night ; Aud the Law shall gain, but I shall win, And we'll still renew t% fight : And ever and aye we'll wrestle, Till Law grow sick aud sad. And kill in its desperation, The incorrigibly bad. " I, and the Law, and Justice, Shall thwart each other still , And hearts shall break to see it ;— And innocent blood shall spill ! So leave,— oh, leave the children To Ignorance and Woe — And I'll come in and teach them The way that they should go." " Oh, shame !" said true Keligion, " Oh, shame that this should be ! I'll take the little children, I'll take them all to me : IM raise them up with kindness From the mire in which they're trod ; I*ll tench them words of blessing, I'll lead them up to God."' " You're not the true Religion," Said a Sect with flashing eyes ; ** Nor thou," said another scowling, '" Thou'rt heresy and lies." " You shall not have the children," Said a third with a shout and yell ; "Yon're Antichrist ami KigoC — You'd train them up for hell.". "And England, sorely puzzled To see each battle strong. Exclaimed, with voice of pity. " Oil, friends, you do me wrong ! Oh. cease your bitter wrangling ; For, till you all agree, I fear the little children AY ill plague both you and me." Uut all refused to listen ? Quofli they—'" We bide our time ;'" And the bidders seized the children — Beggary, Filth, aud Crime ; And the prisons teemed with victims, And the gallows rocked on high ; And the thick abomination Spread reeking to thp sky. Charles M.yckat.