 | Studies in verse (1865) |  |
So in a month Lucy and he were wed:
But Ruth remained at home and did not come
To the altar with them: and they thought her strange
And somewhat cold when she would not be there.
Henceforward Lucy at her husband's farm
Dwelt on: but Ruth remained to keep the house
For her old father; querulous was he,
Broken with labour, and complainingly
Flared out his socket end of feeble years.
But Ruth nor failed nor faltered in her love,
So tended him with patience: her chief joy
Was when at evening Lucy's children ran
Across the fields to see her: then Ruth sat
And wound them in her arms and told them tales;
While large and long the shadows of the leaves
Fell on the baby foreheads, as a glow
Like rippling waters moved them, and one said,
“Dear aunt, the sunset fills your eyes with tears.”
But Ruth remained at home and did not come
To the altar with them: and they thought her strange
And somewhat cold when she would not be there.
Henceforward Lucy at her husband's farm
Dwelt on: but Ruth remained to keep the house
97
Broken with labour, and complainingly
Flared out his socket end of feeble years.
But Ruth nor failed nor faltered in her love,
So tended him with patience: her chief joy
Was when at evening Lucy's children ran
Across the fields to see her: then Ruth sat
And wound them in her arms and told them tales;
While large and long the shadows of the leaves
Fell on the baby foreheads, as a glow
Like rippling waters moved them, and one said,
“Dear aunt, the sunset fills your eyes with tears.”
| Studies in verse (1865) | |