Half a nuisance and half a mother And legally neither one nor the other, Till at last they follow her to her grave, The family-despot, and the slave.

—Curious blossom from bitter ground, Master of masters who left you bound, Who shall unravel the mingled strands Or read the anomaly of your hands? They have made you a shrine and a humorous fable, But they kept you a slave while they were able, And yet, there was something between the two That you shared with them and they shared with you, Brittle and dim, but a streak of gold, A genuine kindness, unbought, unsold, Graciousness founded on hopeless wrong But queerly living and queerly strong.⁠ ⁠…