"Why {244}art thou weeping, sister?
Why is thy cheek so pale?
Look up, dear Jane, and tell me
What is it thou dost ail?
"I know thy will is froward,
Thy feelings warm and keen,
And that _that_ Augustus Howard
For weeks has not been seen.
"I know {245}how much you loved him;
But I know thou dost not weep
For him;--for though his passion be,
His purse is noways deep.
"Then tell me why those tear-drops?
What means this woeful mood?
Say, has the tax-collector
Been calling, and been rude?
"Or has that hateful grocer,
The slave! been here to-day?
Of course he had, by morrow's noon,
A heavy bill to pay!
"Come, on thy brother's bosom
Unburden all thy woes;
Look up, look up, sweet sister;
Nay, sob not through thy nose."
"Oh, John, 'tis not the grocer
For his account, although
How ever he is to be paid,
I really do not know.
"'Tis {246}not the tax-collector;
Though by his fell command
They've seized our old paternal clock,
And new umbrella-stand!
"Nor that Augustus Howard,
Whom I despise almost,--
But the soot's come down the chimney, John,
And fairly spoiled the roast!"