Almswomen

At Quincey's moat the squandering village ends,     And there in the almshouse dwell the dearest friends     Of all the village, two old dames that cling     As close as any trueloves in the spring.     Long, long ago they passed threescore-and-ten,     And in this doll's house lived together then;     All things they have in common, being so poor,     And their one fear, Death's shadow at the door.     Each sundown makes them mournful, each sunrise     Brings back the brightness in their failing eyes.     How happy go the rich fair-weather days     When on the roadside folk stare in amaze     At such a honeycomb of fruit and flowers     As mellows round their threshold; what long hours     They gloat upon their steepling hollyhocks,     Bee's balsams, feathery southernwood, and stocks,     Fiery dragon's-mouths, great mallow leaves     For salves, and lemon-plants in bushy sheaves,     Shagged Esau's-hands with five green finger-tips.     Such old sweet names are ever on their lips.     As pleased as little children where these grow     In cobbled pattens and worn gowns they go,     Proud of their wisdom when on gooseberry shoots     They stuck eggshells to fright from coming fruits     The brisk-billed rascals; pausing still to see     Their neighbour owls saunter from tree to tree,     Or in the hushing half-light mouse the lane     Long-winged and lordly.             But when those hours wane,     Indoors they ponder, scared by the harsh storm     Whose pelting saracens on the window swarm,     And listen for the mail to clatter past     And church clock's deep bay withering on the blast;     They feed the fire that flings a freakish light     On pictured kings and queens grotesquely bright,     Platters and pitchers, faded calendars     And graceful hour-glass trim with lavenders.     Many a time they kiss and cry, and pray     That both be summoned in the self-same day,     And wiseman linnet tinkling in his cage     End too with them the friendship of old age,     And all together leave their treasured room     Some bell-like evening when the may's in bloom.