THE OLD WIFE AND THE NEW
Was over—garnered with the past;
God rest thee gently, Good Old Wife!
God rest thee gently, Good Old Wife!
·······
His young wife has a rosy face,
And laughs, with reddest lips apart,
But cannot fill the empty place
Within that old man's lonely heart.
And laughs, with reddest lips apart,
But cannot fill the empty place
Within that old man's lonely heart.
His young wife has a rosy face,
And brown arms ambered by the sun,
Goes flitting all about the place,
Master and mistress both in one;
And brown arms ambered by the sun,
Goes flitting all about the place,
Master and mistress both in one;
But though she sings, or though she sighs,
He sees her not—he sees instead
A gray-haired Shade with gentle eyes—
The good old wife, long dead, long dead.
He sees her not—he sees instead
A gray-haired Shade with gentle eyes—
The good old wife, long dead, long dead.
He sits beneath the curling vines,
Through which the merry sunrays dart,
His forehead seamed with sorrow's lines—
An old man with a broken heart.
Through which the merry sunrays dart,
His forehead seamed with sorrow's lines—
An old man with a broken heart.
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