The Female Convict to Her Infant (1824)

THE FEMALE CONVICT TO HER INFANT.

Oh! Sleep not my babe, for the morn of to-morrow

Shall sooth me to slumber more tranquil than thine;

The dark grave shall shield me from shame and from sorrow,

Though the deeds and the doom of the guilty are mine.

Not long shall the arm of affliction enfold thee,

Not long shalt thou hang on thy mother's fond breast;

And who with the eye of delight shall behold thee,

And watch thee and guard thee when I am at rest?

And yet doth it grieve me to wake thee, my dearest,

The pangs of thy desolate mother to see;

Thou wilt weep when the clank of my cold chain thou hearest,

And none but the guilty shall mourn over me.

And yet I must wake thee — for while thou art weeping,

To calm thee I stifle my tears for a while;

But thou smil'st in thy dreams, while thus placidly sleeping,

And, oh ! how it wounds me to gaze on thy smile!

Alas ! my sweet babe, with what pride had I press'd thee

To the bosom that now throbs with terror and shame;

If the pure lie of virtuous affection had bless'd thee,

And hail'd thee the heir of thy father's high name.

But now — with remorse that avails not — I mourn thee,

Forsaken and friendless, as soon thou wilt be,

In a world, if it cannot betray — that will scorn thee,

Avenging the guilt of thy mother on thee.

And when the dark thought of my fate shall awaken

The deep blush of shame on thy innocent cheek,

When by all, but the God of the Orphan, forsaken

A home and a father in vain thou shalt seek.

I know that the base world will seek to deceive thee

With falsehood like that which thy mother beguiled,

Deserted and helpless — to whom can I leave thee?

Oh! God of the fatherless — pity my child!

This sorrowful poem of an unidentified female convict to her infant the day before her execution, first appeared in print in "From the Widow of Nain and other Poems" by Rev. Thomas Dale, of Benedict College, Cambridge. 8vo. 2nd ed. 1819. It subsequently appeared in print throughout the British colonies and the America's many times during the 1800's. The earliest known printing of this poem in Australia was in 1824 in The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser.

Source: The Female Convict to her Infant (1824, February 5). The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser (NSW : 1803 - 1842), p. 4.