" A hard case indeed! " — in her ear-rings of gold,
Blue-kerchief'd beneath hat and chin,
Said the black-stocking'd sorner; and then slowly told
Her charm of deep cunning and sin:
" Thy husband bewitch'd, shall, feet foremost, be borne
To Bradfield, where slumber his sires,
If thou, after tea, before ten in the morn,
Wilt visit thy cousin, Jem Squires;
And — nipping the thumb of his crippled left hand
With the finger and thumb of thy right,
Say, " Coffins mean Weddings! and, Jem, understand
That Morning still follows the Night!"
But if thou, in him, ere the summer be o'er,
A true loving husband would'st find,
Before thou go forth, let thy tyrant, once more,
Hear a bit of thy long-troubled mind:
And no one shall ask thee " What did'st thou? or Why?"
Nor shalt thou be scared or ashamed;
For ends may be rul'd by the planets on high,
And no honest woman be blamed. "