Page:Rosalind and Helen (Shelley, Forman).djvu/21

Rh My husband's unlamented tomb. My children knew their sire was gone, But when I told them,—'he is dead,'— They laughed aloud in frantic glee, They clapped their hands and leaped about, Answering each other's ecstasy With many a prank and merry shout. But I sat silent and alone, Wrapped in the mock of mourning weed.

They laughed, for he was dead: but I Sate with a hard and tearless eye, And with a heart which would deny The secret joy it could not quell, Low muttering o'er his loathed name; Till from that self-contention came Remorse where sin was none; a hell Which in pure spirits should not dwell.

I'll tell thee truth. He was a man Hard, selfish, loving only gold, Yet full of guile: his pale eyes ran With tears, which each some falsehood told, And oft his smooth and bridled tongue Would give the lie to his flushing cheek: He was a coward to the strong: He was a tyrant to the weak, On whom his vengeance he would wreak: For scorn, whose arrows search the heart, From many a stranger's eye would dart, And on his memory cling, and follow His soul to it's home so cold and hollow.