XV.

While such her fate in lands of cultured creed,

Judge woman’s griefs with man of barbarous breed;

Slave to his lust, and tiller of his soil,

Crippled and crushed by cruelty and toil;

Yet still her heart a gentle mien essayed,

By deeper passion, holier impulse, swayed;

Care for her wretched offspring rarely swerved,

And mother-love alone the infant oft preserved.