| |
| WHO bids for the little children— | |
| Body, and soul and brain? | |
| Who bids for the little children— | |
| Young and without a stain? | |
| “Will no one bid,” said England, | 5 |
| “For their souls so pure and white, | |
| And fit for all good or evil | |
| The world on their page may write?” | |
| |
| “We bid,” said Pest and Famine; | |
| “We bid for life and limb; | 10 |
| Fever and pain and squalor, | |
| Their bright young eyes shall dim. | |
| When the children grow too many, | |
| We’ll nurse them as our own, | |
| And hide them in secret places | 15 |
| Where none may hear their moan.” | |
| |
| “I bid,” said Beggary, howling; | |
| “I bid for them one and all! | |
| I’ll teach them a thousand lessons— | |
| To lie, to skulk, to crawl! | 20 |
| They shall sleep in my lair like maggots, | |
| They shall rot in the fair sunshine; | |
| And if they serve my purpose | |
| I hope they’ll answer thine.” | |
| |
| “I’ll bid you higher and higher,” | 25 |
| Said Crime, with a wolfish grin; | |
| “For I love to lead the children | |
| Through the pleasant paths of sin. | |
| They shall swarm in the streets to pilfer, | |
| They shall plague the broad highway, | 30 |
| They shall grow too old for pity | |
| And ripe for the law to slay. | |
| |
| “Give me the little children, | |
| Ye good, ye rich, ye wise, | |
| And let the busy world spin round | 35 |
| While ye shut your idle eyes; | |
| And your judges shall have work, | |
| And your lawyers wag the tongue, | |
| And the jailers and policemen | |
| Shall be fathers to the young!” | 40 |
| |
