Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, SHE IS MORE TO BE PITIED THAN CENSURED, by WILLIAM B. GRAY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

SHE IS MORE TO BE PITIED THAN CENSURED, by                    
First Line: At the old concert hall on the bowery
Last Line: No -- he asked for god's mercy and said:
Subject(s): New York City; Pity; Prostitution; Manhattan; New York, New York; The Big Apple; Harlots; Whores; Brothels


AT THE OLD CONCERT HALL on the Bowery
Round the table were seated one night
A crowd of young fellows carousing;
With them life seemed cheerful and bright.
At the very next table was seated
A girl who had fallen to shame.
All the young fellows jeered at her weakness
Till they heard an old woman exclaim:

Chorus:

She is more to be pitied than censured,
She is more to be helped than despised,
She is only a lassie who ventured
On life's stormy path ill-advised.
Do not scorn her with words fierce and bitter,
Do not laugh at her shame and downfall;
For a moment just stop and consider
That a man was the cause of it all.

There's an old-fashioned church round the corner,
Where the neighbors all gathered one day
While the parson was preaching a sermon
O'er a soul that had just passed away.
'Twas the same wayward girl from the Bow'ry,
Who a life of adventure had led --
Did the clergyman jeer at her downfall?
No -- he asked for God's mercy and said:





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