READEN OV A HEAD-STWONE
As I wer readėn ov a stwone,
In Grenley church-yard, all alwone,
A little maïd ran up, wi' pride
To zee me there; an' pushed azide
A bunch o' bennets, that did hide
A verse her father, as she zaïd,
Put up above her mother's head
To tell how much he loved her.
The verse wer short, but very good,
I stood an' larn'd en where I stood:—
"Mid[123] God, dear Meäry, gi'e me greäce
"To vind, lik' thee, a better pleäce,
"Where I, oonce mwore, mid zee thy feäce;
"An' bring thy children up, to know
"His word, that they mid come an' show
"Thy soul how much I loved thee."
"Where's father, then," I zaid, "my chile?"
"Dead, too," she answered wi' a smile;
"An' I an' brother Jem do bide
"At Betty White's, o'tother zide
"O' road." "Mid He, my chile," I cried,
"That's father to the fatherless,
"Become thy father now, an' bless
"An' keep, an' leäd, an' love thee."
—Though she've a-lost, I thought, so much,
Still He don't let the thoughts o't touch
Her litsome heart, by day or night;
An' zoo, if we could teäke it right,
Do show He'll meäke his burdens light
To weaker souls; an' that his smile,
Is sweet upon a harmless chile,
When they be dead that loved it.
William Barnes