My thoughts ... I have no thoughts!
I think I am dreaming! 100
My fatherless children
Are standing before me,
And crying with hunger.
The family, frowning,
Looks coldly upon them....
At home they are 'noisy,'
At play they are 'clumsy,'
At table they're 'gluttons'!
And somebody threatens
To punish my children-- 110
They slap them and pinch them!
Be silent, you mother!
You wife of a soldier!"

* * * * *

"I now have no part
In the village allotments,
No share in the building,
The clothes, and the cattle,
And these are my riches:
Three lakes of salt tear-drops,
Three fields sown with grief!" 120

* * * * *

"And now, like a sinner,
I bow to the neighbours;