  SHE stood that night with a face so set, So filled with bitterness and despair, Closing my eyes, I can see her yet, Sorrowful, broken, but passing fair. Her eyes were fixed on the sky above, Where stars were shining so soft and clear; Did the ghosts of innocence and love Steal out of the gloom and stand quite near? So young to quiver beneath such smart! A fairer brow ’twould be hard to find— The pity of it! a broken heart, And childhood lying so close behind. I heard her whisper, “’Twas long ago That I laughed for joy at the touch of morn, Kneeled down and prayed in the light and glow— Ah me! I cry now—tempest-torn: “‘Thank God for night, and the world asleep’— Their eyes pierce through me the long, long day— Thank God for the darkness, soft and deep, That folds me, and hides me quite away!” [Decorative image unavailable.] |
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