AT THE OLD CONCERT HALL on the Bowery Round the table were seated one night A crowd of young fellows carousing; With them life seemed cheerful and bright. At the very next table was seated A girl who had fallen to shame. All the young fellows jeered at her weakness Till they heard an old woman exclaim: Chorus: She is more to be pitied than censured, She is more to be helped than despised, She is only a lassie who ventured On life's stormy path ill-advised. Do not scorn her with words fierce and bitter, Do not laugh at her shame and downfall; For a moment just stop and consider That a man was the cause of it all. There's an old-fashioned church round the corner, Where the neighbors all gathered one day While the parson was preaching a sermon O'er a soul that had just passed away. 'Twas the same wayward girl from the Bow'ry, Who a life of adventure had led -- Did the clergyman jeer at her downfall? No -- he asked for God's mercy and said: | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...GOAL by GEORGIA DOUGLAS JOHNSON BLACK EAGLE RETURNS TO ST. JOE by EDGAR LEE MASTERS ON THE RHINE by WILLIAM LISLE BOWLES DIBDIN'S GHOST by EUGENE FIELD INDIAN NAMES by LYDIA HUNTLEY SIGOURNEY THE INGOLDSBY PENANCE!; A LEGEND OF PALESTINE AND -- WEST KENT by RICHARD HARRIS BARHAM |