Adoption
Robert William Service 1874 – 1958
Because I was a woman lone
And had of friends so few,
I made two little ones my own,
Whose parents no one knew;
Unwanted foundlings of the night,
Left at the convent door,
Whose tiny hands in piteous plight
Seemed to implore.
By Deed to them I gave my name,
And never will they know
That from the evil slums they came,
Two waifs of want and woe;
I fostered them with love and care
As if they were my own:
Now John, my son, is tall and fair,
And dark is Joan.
My boy's a member of the Bar,
My girl a nurse serene;
Yet when I think of what they are
And what they might have been,
With shuddering I glimpse a hell
Of black and bitter fruit . . .
Where John might be a criminal,
And Joan--a prostitute.
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 28, 2023
- 42 sec read
- 85 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | ABABCDCD EFEFGAGA HXHXXIXI |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 809 |
Words | 142 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8 |
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"Adoption" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 21 May 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/31969/adoption>.
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