University of Virginia Library


281

LONELY AGE.

The gate is swinging from the hasp,
The garden plat shrinks, less and less,
'Mid weed and seed, and things that clasp
All beauty in their hideousness;
The wildness seems to grow and grow,
However late or long I strive;
There's nothing blooms! It was not so
When Ellen was alive!
The neighbours for a time were kind,
And rarely passed without a word;
But they who grieve have friends to find!
And sorrow tires when often heard!
So by another path they go
Across the brook, beyond the hive,
And few come near:—it was not so
When Ellen was alive!