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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
UNFINISHED STILL, by ANONYMOUS
First Line: A baby's boot and a skein of wool
Last Line: Down in the churchyard drear
Subject(s): Memory
First Line: A baby's boot and a skein of wool
Last Line: Down in the churchyard drear
Subject(s): Memory
A BABY'S boot and a skein of wool,
Faded and soiled and soft;
Odd things, you say, and I doubt you're right,
Round a seaman's neck, this stormy night,
Up in the yards aloft.
Most likely it's folly; but, mate, look here!
When first I went to sea,
A woman stood on yon far-off strand
With a wedding ring on the small soft hand
Which clung close to me.
My wife, -- God bless her! -- the day before
Sat she beside my foot;
And the sunlight kissed her yellow hair,
And the dainty fingers, deft and fair,
Knitted a baby's boot.
The voyage was over; I came ashore;
What think you I found there?
A grave the daisies had sprinkled white,
A cottage empty and dark at night,
And this beside the chair.
The little boot, 't was unfinished still;
The tangled skein lay near;
But the knitter had gone away to her rest,
With the babe asleep on her quiet breast,
Down in the churchyard drear.
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