Page:Poems Acton.djvu/119

And fairest in the dance's maze,
 'Mid lord and queenly dame,
Shone forth the child of other days,
 The same, yet not the same.

A shade was on her brow of snow,
 A tear within her eye;
Her cheek had lost its sunny glow,
 Her lip had learned to sigh:
And sadly in the mirror old,
 She gazed with mournful air;
Alas! her tearful glances told
 A breaking heart was there.

And music soft, with dulcet strain,
 Woke up each echo glad;
And as it filled the hall again,
 No heart save one was sad.
And dance and festal, far and wide,
 Were kept the coming day;
They recked not that the pallid bride
 Was passing fast away.

Ay! soon a change came o'er the scene,
 Glad tones were heard no more;
The rooms that filled with light had been,
 Were cheerless as before: