Classic Poem

I.

Upon the maiden's weary soul
The silent darkness dawned like day,
While free amid the boundless Whole,
Alone with God, she took her way.

II.

And yet a thrill of shame and fear
In her with love and anguish met;
She longed that Earth would cease to hear,
And Heaven one hour its gaze forget.

III.

But Henry more than all was dear;
On her he seemed to call for aid,
And she through wave and gale would steer,
To track the wandering, mourning shade.

IV.

Along the churchyard path she went,
And saw above the yew,
The low discoloured firmament,
While cold winds round her blew.

V.

But swift along the road she sped
With still increasing pace,
And walked where blackest darkness led,
The more to hide her face.

VI.

And now to Henry's home she came,
Where never she had been before;
She could not now remember shame,
But knocked upon the door.

VII.

An aged woman, dull and slow,
Came creeping at the sound,
Nor asked the comer's name to know,
But straight the key turned round.

VIII.

Jane hurried in, and at the first,
These words unpausing said—
“O! tell me, tell me all the worst
Tell me, is Henry dead?”