 | Leaves of life |  |
161
DIVORCED.
I.
His was a hard and common lot,
Which thousands bear as well;
He bore it meekly—his was not
The nature to rebel.
Which thousands bear as well;
He bore it meekly—his was not
The nature to rebel.
We never saw him sad—but then
We never saw him gay—
He never talked to the other men
He spoke to every day.
We never saw him gay—
He never talked to the other men
He spoke to every day.
He seemed a commonplace, who tried
A good machine to be;
The columns of a railway guide
Were not more dull than he.
A good machine to be;
The columns of a railway guide
Were not more dull than he.
162
The dreary round of office life
Where city clerks must move
He trod—uncheered by child or wife,
Unsanctified by love.
Where city clerks must move
He trod—uncheered by child or wife,
Unsanctified by love.
And when he died, strange hands laid bare
His dull life's secret spring:
A rose, a lock of baby-hair,
And half a broken ring.
His dull life's secret spring:
A rose, a lock of baby-hair,
And half a broken ring.
II.
A beauty radiant as the sun,
And baleful as the moon,
A woman for whom youth was done
Too utterly, too soon!
And baleful as the moon,
A woman for whom youth was done
Too utterly, too soon!
A brilliant brain that, strong and keen,
Pierced lies with mocking thrust—
A heroine that might have been—
A jewel in the dust.
Pierced lies with mocking thrust—
A heroine that might have been—
A jewel in the dust.
She never sighed—but then men say
They never knew her glad;
She was too gifted to be gay,
Too weary to be sad.
They never knew her glad;
She was too gifted to be gay,
Too weary to be sad.
163
She often laughed—a laugh, we knew,
To which joy lent no breath,
She laughed at all things sad and true
—At children, love, and death.
To which joy lent no breath,
She laughed at all things sad and true
—At children, love, and death.
Yet, when they nailed her coffin close,
They laid beside her there,
A broken ring, a withered rose,
And a little lock of hair!
They laid beside her there,
A broken ring, a withered rose,
And a little lock of hair!
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