Andrew Lang.
This second Ballade of Cricket was included in a collection of “Ballades and Rondeaus” edited by Mr. Gleeson White, and published by Walter Scott, London, 1887.
A Ballad of Burdens.
The burden of Old Women. They delight
In bulky bundles, always in the way;
In ’busses close they wedge you tight at night,
In railway trains they jam you up by day.
Plump dames with pulpy cheeks and locks of grey,
In weariness they waddle, puff, perspire.