Marian's Child
First we thought of the river,
But the body might be found;
And it did not seem so cruel
To bury it in the ground.
So small it seemed, so helpless —
I hardened my heart like stone —
She kissed it over and over,
And then I heard her groan.
I took it out of her bosom:
It cried, and cried, and cried;
I carried it down the garden —
The moon was bright outside.
I dug a hole with a shovel
And laid the baby down;
I shovelled the sand upon it —
The sand was soft and brown.
But, ah! its cry was bitter
I scarce could cover it in,
And when at last 't was hidden
I sank beneath my sin.
Down at the foot of the garden,
Where the moon-made shadows fell,
I sold myself to the Devil
And bought a home in hell.
Down at the foot of the garden,
Where the weeds grew rank and wild,
Under the shivering willows
I murdered Marian's child;
My heart was wildly beating,
My eyes and cheeks were wet,
For I heard the baby crying —
O God! I hear it yet.
I hear it crying, crying,
Just as I heard it cry
In Marian's arms in the morning
When I knew that it must die.
Neither of us was woman —
I was the younger one;
And we strove to tell each other
What a wise thing we had done.
Why should it live to plague us?
Why should it ever begin
Travelling roads of trouble,
Soiling its soul with sin?
Marian! ah, she remembers!
In spite of all her tears
Sweet children call her mother
These many, many years.
Yet when I saw my darling,
Her blue eyes seemed to swell:
"Annie!" she said, "do you hear it?
Listen! I hear it well!
In the night I hear it calling
With a muffled, plaintive wail,
And my heart stands still to count its sobs,
And ever I try and fail;
For I think the depth of my baby's grief
Will never fathomed be
Till the fires are lit in the bottomless pit
To blast eternity."
Once in a southern city
Joy came into my life —
He loved me, kissed me, thought me
Worthy to be his wife ...
No, I will never marry.
God! I had rather die —
If ever I had a baby
'T would curse me with its cry!
For down at the foot of the garden,
Where the moon-made shadows fell,
I sold myself to the Devil
And bought a home in hell.
This work is in the public domain in Australia because it was created in Australia and the term of copyright has expired. According to Australian Copyright Council - Duration of Copyright, the following works are public domain:
- published non-government works whose author died before January 1, 1955,
- anonymous or pseudonymous works and photographs published before January 1, 1955, and
- government works published more than 50 years ago (before January 1, 1974).
This work is also in the public domain in the United States because it was first published outside the United States (and not published in the U.S. within 30 days), and it was first published before 1989 without complying with U.S. copyright formalities (renewal and/or copyright notice) and it was in the public domain in Australia on the URAA date (January 1, 1996). This is the combined effect of Australia having joined the Berne Convention in 1928, and of 17 USC 104A with its critical date of January 1, 1996.
Because the Australian copyright term in 1996 was 50 years, the critical date for copyright in the United States under the URAA is January 1, 1946.
This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse
This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.
The longest-living author of this work died in 1942, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 81 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.
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