Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE ORPHAN GIRL (1), by ANONYMOUS


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE ORPHAN GIRL (1), by                    
First Line: "'no home, no home!' cried a little girl"
Last Line: Where there's room for bread for the poor
Subject(s): Frontier & Pioneer Life;orphans;poverty; Foundlings


"No home, no home!" cried a little girl
At the door of a rich man's hall,
She trembling stood on the marble steps,
And leant against the wall.

Her dress was thin and her feet were bare,
And the snow had covered her head.
"Oh, give me a home," she feebly said,
"A home and a piece of bread.

"A father's face she had never seen,"
And the tears had filled her eyes,
While the mother sleeps in a new-dug grave,
The orphan begs and cries.

The night was dark. and the snow fell fast
And the rich man closed his door.
His proud lips curled, and scornfully he said:
"No room or bread for the poor."

"I must freeze," she said as she sank on the steps,
And tried to cover her feet.
Her tattered dress all covered with snow,
All covered with snow and sleet.

The rich man slept on his velvet couch
And dreamed of his silver and gold,
While the orphan lay on a bed of snow
And murmured, "So cold, so cold."

The hours rolled on, and midnight came,
Rang out like a funeral bell,
The earth seemed still, weeping in the winds
And the drifting snow fell still.

But the morning dawned, and the little form
Still lay at the rich man's door,
But a soul had fled to its home above,
Where there's room and bread for the poor.

No more she stands at the rich's man door,
And murmurs: "So cold! so cold!"
But a crown on her head and a harp in her hand,
She sings in a land of gold.






Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!


Other Poems of Interest...
Home: PoetryExplorer.net