THE LITTLE WHITE HEARSE.

As the little white hearse went glimmering by— The man on the coal cart jerked his lines, And smutted the lid of either eye, And turned and stared at the business signs; And the street-car driver stopped and beat His hands on his shoulders and gazed up street Till his eye on the long track reached the sky— As the little white hearse went glimmering by. As the little white hearse went glimmering by— A stranger petted a ragged child In the crowded walk, and she knew not why, But he gave her a coin for the way she smiled; And a bootblack thrilled with a pleasure strange As a customer put back his change With a kindly hand and a grateful sigh— As the little white hearse went glimmering by. As the little white hearse went glimmering by— A man looked out of a window dim, And his cheeks were wet and his heart was dry— For a dead child even were dear to him! And he thought of his empty life and said: "Loveless alive and loveless dead, Nor wife nor child in earth or sky!"— As the little white hearse went glimmering by.