 | Morning Glories : |  |
THE DESERTED WIFE.
Turn not away thy face,
Nor look upon me with averted gaze;
Canst thou not in me trace
Thy friend of former days?
Nor look upon me with averted gaze;
Canst thou not in me trace
Thy friend of former days?
Thou lookest yet with scorn
On me as if I were thy very foe.
Oh! once shone bright for me love's morn,
Now naught is mine but woe.
On me as if I were thy very foe.
Oh! once shone bright for me love's morn,
Now naught is mine but woe.
What wrought the change,
Into my earthly eden came?
A ruthless hand which did estrange,
And quenched love's flame.
Into my earthly eden came?
A ruthless hand which did estrange,
And quenched love's flame.
And deftly as the thread
By moths destroyed, or flowers heart,
When gnawed by worm, lies dead,
Then came the end love's fabric fell apart.
By moths destroyed, or flowers heart,
When gnawed by worm, lies dead,
Then came the end love's fabric fell apart.
Nay, 'twas not I who forged the chain
Which clanks and fetters me to-day;
Nay, but with failing power I sought in vain
Fate's cruel hand to stay.
Which clanks and fetters me to-day;
Nay, but with failing power I sought in vain
Fate's cruel hand to stay.
My love was reverence,
For him my senior by some years,
His growing coldness took for reticence,
And drowned my grief in tears.
For him my senior by some years,
His growing coldness took for reticence,
And drowned my grief in tears.
86
I was too confident,
His love to doubt I cherished as a boon,
As soon would I have charged the stars above
Inconstant to the moon.
His love to doubt I cherished as a boon,
As soon would I have charged the stars above
Inconstant to the moon.
No service was too great
Or low for me, so I could win
His smiles approval I could be
Happy alone in him.
Or low for me, so I could win
His smiles approval I could be
Happy alone in him.
My patient watch was vain,
The tempter sowed a fructifying seed,
It grew and ripened and its fruits was pain,
My life was woe indeed.
The tempter sowed a fructifying seed,
It grew and ripened and its fruits was pain,
My life was woe indeed.
But I seek no redress,
Though he may claim inconstancy was mine,
I loved so blindly and I this confess,
'Twas him I loved and love my greatest crime.
Though he may claim inconstancy was mine,
I loved so blindly and I this confess,
'Twas him I loved and love my greatest crime.
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