And Other Poems.
71
THE BEGGAR’S PRAYER.
(A DIGGER’S TALE.)
I’LL tell you how it happened, mate: we worked in wet and cold
The winter through, until at last we struck upon the gold;
Though Charley had a woman’s frame, it held a lion’s heart,
And day by day, in shaft and drive; he nobly did his part.
The winter through, until at last we struck upon the gold;
Though Charley had a woman’s frame, it held a lion’s heart,
And day by day, in shaft and drive; he nobly did his part.
I was his mate before the rush to Gabriel’s began,
I loved him, for I knew him to be every inch a man;
Ah! times are changed, and people now are not what they were then,
The boys who wore the yellow pants in those old days were MEN.
I loved him, for I knew him to be every inch a man;
Ah! times are changed, and people now are not what they were then,
The boys who wore the yellow pants in those old days were MEN.
The Bible tells us, as you know, we all are made from dust,
And to the same material return again we must;
But still I can’t believe that all are moulded the same way.
For Charley was a BRICK, you see, and made of common clay.
And to the same material return again we must;
But still I can’t believe that all are moulded the same way.
For Charley was a BRICK, you see, and made of common clay.
Besides, he had a poet’s soul, and often in his ear
Old Nature whispered secrets sweet which I could never hear;
And yellow clouds, that were to me but vapour in the sky,
To him were golden pictures from the brush of God on high.
Old Nature whispered secrets sweet which I could never hear;
And yellow clouds, that were to me but vapour in the sky,
To him were golden pictures from the brush of God on high.
