It may never know father nor mother nor home,
Kind heaven protect it from evils to come.
[THE NEW YEAR.]
The year is an infant, new-born and pure-hearted,
No blur on its beauty, no tear on its cheek;
How long will it last, when the calendar ’s started,
In innocent purity? How soon will it reek
With sorrow and sinfulness, woe and unkindness,
Till the whole year is blotted with error and blindness?