Laurella and other poems by John Todhunter |
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 | Laurella and other poems |  |
151
THE SEXTON'S DAUGHTER.
O bitter, bitter was the blast,
And bitter was the sky,
And in the churchyard thick and fast
The rain fell drearily.
And bitter was the sky,
And in the churchyard thick and fast
The rain fell drearily.
The rent clouds scudded by the moon
And smothered up the stars;
The bent gate creaked a dismal tune
As the wind raved through the bars.
And smothered up the stars;
The bent gate creaked a dismal tune
As the wind raved through the bars.
The gravestones glimmered clammy and cold
In the chill grass, row on row,
And oozings cold sank through the mould,
Till they froze the dead below.
In the chill grass, row on row,
And oozings cold sank through the mould,
Till they froze the dead below.
From the grey porch came half represt
An infant's famished cry,
Where a young mother, babe on breast,
Had laid her down to die.
An infant's famished cry,
Where a young mother, babe on breast,
Had laid her down to die.
152
There in the morning, stiff and cold,
Clasping her child she lay.
The sexton stumbled, I've been told,
Upon his daughter's clay.
Clasping her child she lay.
The sexton stumbled, I've been told,
Upon his daughter's clay.
| Laurella and other poems | |