THE BURIAL IN THE WILDERNESS.
33
Them round her temples—for they ever taught
A lesson to her beautiful and pure,
That when her bread was on the waters cast,
After full many a day it would return
To her again.
Or 'midst the lofty throng
Of England's noblest ones—'mongst whom she stood
An equal—listening to the fervid tone
Of high imagination; or the voice
Of matchless eloquence; or yielding praise,
Where praise was justly due, heedless of that
Bestowed upon herself; or bending o'er
The couch of stricken poverty and woe,
Breathing the heart's best comfort, sympathy,
She was the same, all gentleness and love,
AH patience and all sweetness.
Wherefore then,
From hearts that worshiped, and from throngs that bowed
Before her as she passed, and from the voice
Of many blessings showered upon her path,
Rich incense to her spirit—from the tears
Of kindred eyes, and from her father's halls,
Wandered she hither, fearless of the wide
And mighty ocean, of the empty soil,
The frowning wilderness, and midnight foe?
Why came she from all these, to find the grave
After whole years of pain and suffering,
Of toil and of privation, in the gloom
A lesson to her beautiful and pure,
That when her bread was on the waters cast,
After full many a day it would return
To her again.
Or 'midst the lofty throng
Of England's noblest ones—'mongst whom she stood
An equal—listening to the fervid tone
Of high imagination; or the voice
Of matchless eloquence; or yielding praise,
Where praise was justly due, heedless of that
Bestowed upon herself; or bending o'er
The couch of stricken poverty and woe,
Breathing the heart's best comfort, sympathy,
She was the same, all gentleness and love,
AH patience and all sweetness.
Wherefore then,
From hearts that worshiped, and from throngs that bowed
Before her as she passed, and from the voice
Of many blessings showered upon her path,
Rich incense to her spirit—from the tears
Of kindred eyes, and from her father's halls,
Wandered she hither, fearless of the wide
And mighty ocean, of the empty soil,
The frowning wilderness, and midnight foe?
Why came she from all these, to find the grave
After whole years of pain and suffering,
Of toil and of privation, in the gloom
