Page:Poems Denver.djvu/256

And the sweet expression of her face,
 So sad, yet so resigned,—
It seemed, though she indeed went forth,
 Her spirit stayed behind.

"On to the far-off wilderness
 We journeyed day by day,
Yet her voice grew sadder as we went,
 And her step less light and gay.
In vain the prairie-flower wooed
 Her steps to turn aside;
The waters rolled, she heeded not
 The mutterings of their pride.

"At length we rested by the dark
 'Interminable wood,'
That, like a ready armèd host,
 In serried columns stood.
And we hoped that rest and tenderness
 Would free her from her pain,
And from its mournful memories win
 Her spirit back again.

"But her cheek grew whiter day by day,
 More shadowy her form,
As the doomed lily pines away
 When summer-skies are warm.
And still, as paler grew her cheek,
 More brightly shone her eye,
Until the sharp conviction came,
 That she would shortly die!