Ella Wheeler Wilcox

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.