A South-Sea Islander

Aloll in the warm clear water,
On her back with languorous limbs,
She lies. The baby upon her breasts
Paddles and falls and swims.

With half-closed eyes she smiles,
Guarding it with her hands;
And the sob swells up in my heart -
In my heart that understands.

Dear, in the English country,
The hatefullest land on earth,
The mothers are starved and the children die,
And death is better than birth!

By Francis William Lauderdale