The Itinerant Singing Girl

Jane Francesca Wilde 1821 (Elgee Wexford) – 1896 (Chelsea, London)



Fatherless and motherless, no brothers have I,
And all my little sisters in the cold grave lie;
Wasted with hunger I saw them falling dead -
Lonely and bitter are the tears I shed.

Friendless and loverless, I wander to and fro,
Singing while my faint heart is breaking fast with woe,
Smiling in my sorrow, and singing for my bread -
Lonely and bitter are the tears I shed.

Harp clang and merry song by stranger's door and board,
None ask wherefore tremble my pale lips at each word;
None care why the color from my wan cheek has fled -
Lonely and bitter are the tears I shed.

Smiling and singing still, tho' hunger, want, and woe,
Freeze the young life-current in my veins as I go;
Begging for my living, yet wishing I were dead -
Lonely and bitter are the tears I shed.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 25, 2023

45 sec read
110

Quick analysis:

Scheme aabB ccbB xxbB ccbB
Closest metre Iambic hexameter
Characters 766
Words 149
Stanzas 4
Stanza Lengths 4, 4, 4, 4

Jane Francesca Wilde

Jane Francesca Agnes, Lady Wilde (née Elgee; 27 December 1821 – 3 February 1896) was an Irish poet under the pen name "Speranza" and supporter of the nationalist movement. Lady Wilde had a special interest in Irish folktales, which she helped to gather and was the mother of Oscar Wilde and Willie Wilde.  more…

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