Page:Rosemary and Pansies.djvu/98

 He whom once I loved so well Lured away by evil spell— With naught else to fill my heart I lived in thee—and dead thou art!

Tyrant death! amidst thou not spare A flower so young, so sweet, so fair? If thou needs must take one, why For her sake might I not die? Then some mercy hadst thou shewn, Nor left me desolate, alone, A childless mother, homeless wife, To linger out a death-in-life.

Reft of all that gives delight Day's as wearisome as night; Earth's a barren desert drear, With no Mount of Promise near; Hope's by dull despair devoured, All joy's slain, all sweetness soured; Where'er I turn I see alone A frowning sky, a face of stone.

Night so dark can have no dawn; I'll follow thee where thou art gone; 1 cannot linger in this drear, Homeless, hopeless, evil sphere: Calls my darling, Come away! Broken heart, your beating stay! Merciless you struck before, Death! in mercy strike once more!

1890