Classic Poem

XXXI.

As when a child first snaps the band
That close to home has bound him;
Or as the sailor dreams of land,
And wakes with waves around him.

XXXII.

Long time she paused, and hid her face,
Then raised her head in piteous sorrow,
As doubting in his look to trace
A hope for e'en to-morrow.

XXXIII.

She saw his cheek so worn and pale,
She saw the dark expanded eye,
And read the unimagined tale
Of sure and near mortality.

XXXIV.

Her shuddering face she stooped in dread,
And then once more was fain to look;
Slow tears her eyes o'erladen shed
On his thin hand, that feebly shook.

XXXV.

They spoke not, ere they rose to go,
And walked towards the far church-tower;
Side pressed to side, they journeyed slow,
While passed one voiceless, throbbing hour,

XXXVI.

But when they reached the burial-ground,
They turned and looked o'er hill and plain;
And starting up from misery's swound,
He faintly said to Jane—

XXXVII.

“The autumn woods are fair to see,
Its clouds with straggling sunshine burn;
But lovelier will the springtime be,
When warmth, and hope, and life return.”

XXXVIII.

With long, sad smiles, of sorrow bred,
The fate-struck lovers left each other,
While both at heart more deeply bled
Than even for a buried mother.