Page:Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell (Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë, 1846).djvu/77

Rh The carpets bear the peaceful print

Of comfort's velvet tread,

And golden gleams from plenty sent,

In every nook are shed.

The very silken spaniel seems

Of quiet ease to tell,

As near its mistress' feet it dreams,

Sunk in a cushion's swell;

And smiles seem native to the eyes

Of those sweet children, three;

They have but looked on tranquil skies,

And know not misery.

Alas! that misery should come

In such an hour as this;

Why could she not so calm a home

A little longer miss?

But she is now within the door,

Her steps advancing glide;

Her sullen shade has crossed the floor,

She stands at Gilbert's side.

She lays her hand upon his heart,

It bounds with agony;

His fireside chair shakes with the start

That shook the garden tree.

His wife towards the children looks,

She does not mark his mien;

The children, bending o'er their books,

His terror have not seen.