 | Poems |  |
159
THE LITTLE MAIDEN.
1878.
I
Little maiden, in the rain,On the mountain road,
Never bloom of healthier grain
On a wet cheek glowed;
Never active little feet
Hastened footsteps more discreet.
II
Plain it is it was not playBrought thee out of doors,
This tempestuous autumn day,
O'er the windy moors;
Something thou hast had to do,
Deemed of trust and moment too.
III
Now, the errand duly done,Home thou hiest fast,
Through the flying gleams of sun,
Through the laden blast,
With the light of purpose high
Kindling bravely in thine eye.
160
IV
Oh, 'twas fearful at the top,While it rained and blew;—
Till the dark cloud lifted up
And the sun beamed through,
Showing all the country's side
Spread beneath thee, grand and wide.
V
Wond'rous wide the world extends!Thought'st thou, as thy glance
Travelled to the welkin's ends
O'er the bright expanse,
Stubble fields and browning trees,
Spires, and foreign parishes!
VI
Other children's homes are thereSheltered from the storm;
Others' mothers' arms prepare
Clasping welcomes warm;
Others' fathers' fields are made
Fertile by the plough and spade:
VII
Men and horses on the land,Maidens in the byre;
Boys and girls, a merry band,
Round the evening fire:—
Such the world, for thee, and, lo,
There it lay in glorious show.
161
VIII
Round thee, in the glittering raysBy the rain-drops shed,
Shone the blossom'd furze a-blaze,
Shone the fern-brake red;
Rough but lovely, as thy own
Life's ideal, little one!
IX
Then a glowing thought there came,Guess I not aright?—
That the furze's yellow flame
Could not shine so bright
Nor the fern-leaves spread so fair
If the good God were not there.
X
Rightly to that thought I traceAll the courage high
Flushing through thy wetted face,
Mounting in thine eye,
Now the cloud and driving rain
Close around thy path again.
XI
Could these purblind eyes of mine,Past the curtain, see
Things unseen and things divine,
Sure it seems to me
I would see an Angel glide
Down the mountain by thy side.
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