Page:Poems - Southey (1799) volume 2.djvu/226

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And as we were not left quite destituteWe bore up well. In the summer time I workedSometimes a-field. Then I was famed for knitting,And in long winter nights my spinning wheelSeldom stood still. We had kind neighbours tooAnd never felt distress. So he grew upA comely lad and wonderous well disposed;I taught him well; there was not in the parishA child who said his prayers more regular,Or answered readier thro' his catechism.If I had foreseen this! but 'tis a blessingWe do'nt know what we're born to!TRAVELLER.But how came itHe chose to be a Sailor?WOMAN.You shall hear Sir;As he grew up he used to watch the birdsIn the corn, child's work you know, and easily done.'Tis an idle sort of task, so he built up
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