Our Nig

Harriet E. Wilson (1825–1900)

"I knowThat care has iron crowns for many brows;That Calvaries are everywhere, whereonVirtue is crucified, and nails and spearsDraw guiltless blood; that sorrow sits and drinksAt sweetest hearts, till all their life is dry;That gentle spirits on the rack of painGrow faint or fierce, and pray and curse by turns;That hell's temptations, clad in heavenly guiseAnd armed with might, lie evermore in waitAlong life's path, giving assault to all."—Holland.