ENIGMA.
My first is black, or brown, or white;
Of mechanism exquisite;
Our earliest help, our latest need;
The first to greet, the last to speed;
Our constant help in daily tasks;
The gift th' impatient lover asks;
The forger's bane; the poor man's good,
Procuring him his children's food.
My next is often seen in fur,
Yet oft as light as gossamer;
Sometimes the school-boy gets his share,
And lamentation fills the air.
My whole are polished, hard, and strong,
To hardened natures they belong;
And when my first my next bestows,
'Tis time my whole should interpose.