Send Them To Gaol (1864)
[Lines suggested by Newspaper Police Reports.]
'Tis only a woman--forsaken--distressed
With three little children--a babe at her breast ;
She is faint !--she is hungry !--where shall she rest ?
Send her to Gaol !
What creature is this !--haggard, wasted and wan,
With the manners of childhood, and form of a man,
An Idiot !--Bring hither Her Majesty's-van--
Send him to Gaol !
'Tis a Child of the Streets--ragged ! houseless ! forlorn !
His feet are unshod, and his hair is unshorn,
Allowed to go wild from the day he was born--
Send him to Gaol !
Oh ! send them to gaol, 'tis the speediest plan,
The woman forsaken--poor child--blighted man,
And when they come out they may do--what they can ;
SEND THEM TO GAOL !
Melbourne, Jan 1, 1864.
GAWLER, SATURDAY, MARCH 5, 1864.
Notes
From the South Australian newspaper the Bunyip Saturday 5 March 1864, p. 4.