The Lame Brother
My parents sleep both in one grave;
My only friend's a brother.
The dearest things upon the earth
We are to one another.
A fine stout boy I knew him once,
With active form and limb;
Whene'er he leaped, or jumped, or ran,
O I was proud of him!
He leaped too far, he got a hurt,
He now does limping go.-
When I think on his active days,
My heart is full of woe.
He leans on me, when we to school
Do every morning walk;
I cheer him on his weary way,
He loves to hear my talk:
The theme of which is mostly this,
What things he once could do.
He listens pleased-then sadly says,
'Sister, I lean on you.'
Then I reply, 'Indeed you're not
Scarce any weight at all.-
And let us now still younger years
To memory recall.
'Led by your little elder hand,
I learned to walk alone;
Careful you used to be of me,
My little brother John.
'How often, when my young feet tired,
You've carried me a mile!-
And still together we can sit,
And rest a little while.
'For our kind master never minds,
If we're the very last;
He bids us never tire ourselves
With walking on too fast.'
The Duty Of A Brother
Why on your sister do you look,
Octavius, with an eye of scorn,
As scarce her presence you could brook?-
Under one roof you both were born.
Why, when she gently proffers speech,
Do you ungently turn your head?
Since the same sire gave life to each;
With the same milk ye both were fed.
Such treatment to a female, though
A perfect stranger she might be,
From you would most unmanly show;
In you to her 'tis worse to see.
When any ill-bred boys offend her,
Showing their manhood by their sneers,
It is your business to defend her
'Gainst their united taunts and jeers.
And not to join the illiberal crew
In their contempt of female merit;
What's bad enough in them, from you
Is want of goodness, want of spirit.
What if your rougher out-door sports
Her less robustious spirits daunt;
And if she join not the resorts
Where you and your wild playmates haunt:
Her milder province is at home;
When your diversions have an end,
When over-toiled from play you come,
You'll find in her an in-doors friend.
Leave not your sister to another;
As long as both of you reside
In the same house, who but her brother
Should point her books, her studies guide?
If Nature, who allots our cup,
Than her has made you stronger, wiser;
It is that you, as you grow up,
Should be her champion, her adviser.
It is the law that hand intends
Which framed diversity of sex;
The man the woman still defends,
The manly boy the girl protects.
