Page:Pieces People Ask For.djvu/108

98 The beggars on sidewalks suffer less;
 * They herd all together, clan and clan;

Alike and equal in wretchedness,
 * No room for pride between man and man.

Nothing to lose by rags or by dirt,
 * More often something is gained instead;

Nothing to fear but bodily hurt,
 * Nothing to hope for save daily bread.

But respectable poor have all to lose;
 * For the world to know, means loss and shame;

They'd rather die, if they had to choose;
 * They cling as for life to place and name,—

Cling, and pretend, and conceal and hide;
 * Never an hour but its terror bears;

Terror which slinks like guilt to one side,
 * And often a guiltier countenance wears.

"Respectably dressed" to the last; ay, last!
 * Last dollar, last crust, last proud pulse-beat;

Starved body, starved soul, hope dead and past:
 * What wonder that any death looks sweet?

"An unknown man, respectably dressed,"
 * That was all that the record said.

When will the question let us rest,—
 * Is it fault of ours that the man was dead?

Helen Jackson.

"BAY BILLY." may talk of horses of renown,
 * What Goldsmith Maid has done,

How Dexter cut the seconds down,
 * And Fellowcraft's great run:

Would you hear about a horse that once
 * A mighty battle won?