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Classic and Contemporary Poetry
CHILD-WIDOW, by MAY FOLWELL HOISINGTON
First Line: Emaciated, tiny frame: the slave
Last Line: This somber widowed child of hindustan.
Subject(s): Children; Widows & Widowers; Childhood
First Line: Emaciated, tiny frame: the slave
Last Line: This somber widowed child of hindustan.
Subject(s): Children; Widows & Widowers; Childhood
Emaciated, tiny frame: the slave
Of any in the household. All her life
Accurst. When barely nine years old, a wife
And now, at twelve, a widow. She must shave
Her head and break the bangles bridehood gave.
Now all her days are toil, her nights are rife
With hunger-pains. Useless her childish strife,
Her tears and screams . . . her sanctum is the grave.
Better for her the pyre and flaming breath
Of pure release. While priestly superstition
Says marriage binds the woman to one man
Alive or dead; decrees a husband's death
Her fault; no hope may ease her hard condition . . . . . .
This somber widowed child of Hindustan.
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