Beyond their strength—if neither age nor sex
Is spared the cruel smiting of their rods.”
And Moses went to see his brethren.
’Twas eventide,
And the laborers were wending their way
Unto their lowly huts. ’Twas a sad sight,—
The young girls walked without the bounding steps
Of youth, with faces prematurely old,
As if the rosy hopes and sunny promises
Of life had never flushed their cheeks with girlish