I One day, in Kharkov, in a crowded slum, (O that southern Russia, where all the women, With white shawls over their heads, are like Madonnas!) I saw a young woman returning from the well Carrying, as they still do there, as they did in Ovid's time, Two pails hung at the two ends of a board Balanced across her neck and upon her shoulders. And I saw a ragged child come up and talk to her. Then, amiably bending her body to the right, She tipped till the pail full of fresh water touched the ground Level with the lips of the child who had kneeled to drink it. | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...A SNOW-STORM; SCENE IN A VERMONT WINTER by CHARLES GAMAGE EASTMAN EPITAPH ON THOMAS CLERE, SURREY'S FAITHFUL FRIEND AND FOLLOWER by HENRY HOWARD THE DARK HILLS by EDWIN ARLINGTON ROBINSON THE BATTLE-CRY OF FREEDOM by GEORGE FREDERICK ROOT THE HARLOT'S HOUSE by OSCAR WILDE PRAYER FOR A CITY CHILD by DOROTHY P. ALBAUGH THIS FLESH by KENNETH SLADE ALLING |