HOMELESS.

Otago Witness, Issue 569, 24 October 1862, Page 7

HOMELESS.

It is cold dark midnight, yet listen To that p itter of tiny feet ! Is it one of your dogs, fair lady, Who whines in the bleak cold street ]■— Is it one of your silken spaniels Shut out in the snow and the sleet? My dogs sleep warm in their baskets, Safe from the darkness and snow, All the beasts in our Christian HnglandFind pity wherever t'tey j^o — (Those are onlr the homeless children

Who are wandering to and fro ) Look out in the gusty darknes3 — 1 have seen it agaiii aud again, That shadow, that fli:s so slowly Up and down past the window- pane : It is surely some criminal lurking Out there in the frozen rain ! Nay, our Criminals nil are sheltered, They an- pitied and taught and fed ; That is only .t .'i-te- woman

Who has got neither *ood nor bed —

And the Nk'hfc oii'S, -'sin to be living," And the River cries " sin to be dead." Look at that furthest corner

Where the wall stands bank and bare Can that be a pack which a pedlar Has ll etf t and forgotten thsre 'I His goods lying out unsheltered Will be spoilt by the damp night air. Nay ; goods in our thrifty England Are not left to lie and grow rotten, For each man knows the rnm-ket value

Of silk, or wool, or cotton — But in c .uuting the riches of England I think our poor arc fon-otteu. Our beasts and our thieves, and our chattel* Have weight for good or for ill ; But tlie Poor arc only Hi^ hmg<\ His presence HisworJ, His will — Arioso Lizarus lies at our doorstep Aud Dive 3 neglects him still. Adelaide Pkoctok.