SONG OF THE SHOP.

Observer, Volume XI, Issue 717, 24 September 1892, Page 15

SONG OF THE SHOP.

Apropos of the agitation for a halfholiday for shop employees, the following lines from Truth may not be out of place. There are shop hands in the colony to whom it fairly applies. With eyelids weary and worn, With limbs as heavy as lead, A shop girl sat in her chill, cold room, Holding her aching head. And over her pale, thin face The tears were beginning to drop, And checking a sigh that became a sob, She sang the ' song of the shop.' Oh, it's work, work, work, Till the brain begins to swing ; And work, work, work, Till I ache in every limb ; Compelled the live long day Behind the counter to stand, Till the heart grows sick and the brain benumbed, As well as the weary hand. Work, work, work, In the hurry and rush and glare, Work, work, work, In the foul and poisoned air. Whatever the season be, No change to my lot they bring ; And it's only because the fashions change, That I know it once more is spring. For me there is no relief, No respite however brief No blessed leisure for love or hope, Not even the time for grief ! A little weeping would ease my heart Of its sorrow so dark and deep But my tears must stop, for every drop But lessens my time for sleep. Oh ! but to breathe once more The breath of the wild flowers sweet : To see the sky above my head And the green grass beneath my feet, Oh 1 for one short hour To feel as I used to feel Before to the counter I was bound, Like a slave, with chains of steel. Oh, noble people, it rests with you To grant us the boon we crave, To sooth the smart of the aching heart Of the hopeless counter slave!' With eyelids weary and worn With limbs as heavy as lead. A shop girl sat in her chill, bare room Holding her aching head, Essaying in vain to check The tears that perforce would drop And still in a voice of dolorous tone That was half a sob, and half a moan She sang the song of the shop.

Eoses are the most popular flower of the season in millinery. The strings of new bonnets are formed entirely of tiny rosebuds, while the bonnets themselves and large hats are covered with buds and blossoms of larger growth.