Trade Songs.
The Workhouse Nurse.
Take the child upon your knee !1
Desert infant, let it rest2
All night upon your breast :3
Sing a softening lullaby :4
Shield it from the tempest wild :5
Be a mother to the child.6
It is not a noble’s son,7
Not a noble,—born above8
All the charities of love :9
Out of misery was it won :10
Cradled in the stony street,11
Found (a blessing) at your feet.12
Black its eyes, dark its skin ;13
Feeble creature,—once a pack14
Haply at a gipsy’s back ;15
But it has a soul within :16
And sometimes (say the stories wild)17
You find an Angel in a child.18