William Baxter Remember the Poor (1850)

FROM

THE

MILLENNIAL HARBINGER.

SERIES III.

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VOL. VII.] BETHANY, VA. FEBRUARY, 1850. [NO. II.
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R E M E M B E R   T H E   P O O R.
BY WILLIAM BAXTER.
Winter has come in his snowy vest,
We feel his breath in the cold north-west;
For that chilling wind delights to blow
The feath'ry flakes of the falling snow.

O! his icy breath hath chill'd the streams,
And in frost work bright the orchard gleams;
And icicles now, are flashing bright,
From the forest boughs, in the morning light.

The birds are gone, and the voice of song
Wakes echoes no more the groves among,
No sound is heard, save the howling blast,
As in anger wild it speedeth past.

But winter hath joys; around the fire
The children gather, to hear the sire
Tell noble deeds of his own right hand,
When he struck for home, and native land.

The song succeeds, but the blithsome tale
Goes merrily round, despite the gale
Which rages without, and seems to be
The fierce Storm-King's song of revelry.

But that wind a sound of terror hath;
To the starving poor 'tis a tone of wrath,
It ever seemeth to them to be
A voice that speaks but of misery.

For snow drifts under the shattered door,
And streweth with white the cold damp floor,
And the mother looks with troubled brow,
On the cheerless wreaths of drifted snow.

Then she turns, and looks with tearful eye,
On her half-clad child that standeth by,
And prayeth to God in accents wild,
To pity her and her orphan child.

O! ye whom God hath abundance given,
Give those, as ye hope to enter heaven,
For God, through the storm, cries at your door,
I've blessed you; now do you bless the poor.

[The Millennial Harbinger (February 1850): 120.]

ABOUT THE ELECTRONIC EDITION

      William Baxter's "Remember the Poor" was first published in The Millennial Harbinger, Third Series, Vol. 7, No. 2, February 1850. The electronic version of the poem has been produced from the College Press reprint (1976) of The Millennial Harbinger, ed. Alexander Campbell (Bethany, VA: A. Campbell, 1850), p. 120.

      Inconsistencies in spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and typography have been retained; however, corrections have been offered for misspellings and other accidental corruptions. Emendations are as follows:

            Printed Text [ Electronic Text
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 p. 120:    them te be [ them to be

      Addenda and corrigenda are earnestly solicited.

Ernie Stefanik
Derry, PA

Created 20 June 1998.
Updated 28 June 2003.

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