ENOCH ARDEN.
27
And one, in whom all evil fancies clung
Like serpent eggs together, laughingly
Would hint at worse in either. Her own son
Was silent, tho’ he often look’d his wish;
But evermore the daughter prest upon her
To wed the man so dear to all of them
And lift the household out of poverty;
And Philip’s rosy face contracting grew
Careworn and wan; and all these things fell on her
Sharp as reproach.
Like serpent eggs together, laughingly
Would hint at worse in either. Her own son
Was silent, tho’ he often look’d his wish;
But evermore the daughter prest upon her
To wed the man so dear to all of them
And lift the household out of poverty;
And Philip’s rosy face contracting grew
Careworn and wan; and all these things fell on her
Sharp as reproach.
At last one night it chanced
That Annie could not sleep, but earnestly
Pray’d for a sign ‘my Enoch is he gone?’
Then compass’d round by the blind wall of night
Brook’d not the expectant terror of her heart,
Started from bed, and struck herself a light,
Then desperately seized the holy Book,
Suddenly set it wide to find a sign,
Suddenly put her finger on the text,
That Annie could not sleep, but earnestly
Pray’d for a sign ‘my Enoch is he gone?’
Then compass’d round by the blind wall of night
Brook’d not the expectant terror of her heart,
Started from bed, and struck herself a light,
Then desperately seized the holy Book,
Suddenly set it wide to find a sign,
Suddenly put her finger on the text,
