Ella Wheeler Wilcox (Элла Уилкокс)
Sold
Out of the window I look from my stall For the last, last time, and I see them all. Master and mistress, and children dear, That have loved and petted me many a year; And for many a year it has been my pride To give them pleasure in drive and ride. Never a blow from my master's whip; Nothing but kindness from hand or lip; A well-kept stable and stalls of state-- And whatever means comfort for me and my mate. Shining harness, and trappings of gold-- And blankets and bedding to keep out cold! Oh a beautiful life we have had, I say; But now it is over; they sold us to-day. A monstrous creature whose voice and breath Bespeak it a herald of horror and death, Has taken our place. In the curve of the drive, Stolid and shapeless and unalive, I see it standing. In stables and stall They are widening doorways and moving a wall To give it shelter. To-morrow we go To a home and master we do not know. We know not whither; we know not whether We go divided, or go together. But we know we are leaving the things grown dear; And we know a stranger will take us from here; And stranger voices and stranger faces Will make a desert of other places. Out in the driveway my master stands, Petting his monster with eyes and hands. While mistress and children the praises sing Of a stolid and shapeless and senseless thing. It makes no answer with whinny or neigh, Yet we are to go, and the Thing will stay. Out of the window I look from my stall For the last, last time, and I see them all.
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