 | Ballads and Lyrical poems |  |
104
THE BRIDGE.
Upon the solitary bridge the lightShone dim; the wind swept howling on its way,
And tower and spire stood hidden in the gray
Half-darkness of the raw and rainy night.
When one still young and fair, with eyes mad-bright,
Paced up and down, and with a look of woe,
Gazed on the waters gliding black below,
Or the dull houses looming on her sight,—
And said within herself,—“Can I endure
Longer this weight of misery and scorn?
Ah, no! Love-blighted—sick at heart—and poor;—
Deceived—undone—and utterly forlorn!
Why should I live?—forgive me, Lord!” she cried,
Sprang sudden to the brink, dash'd headlong down
—and died!
| Ballads and Lyrical poems | |