And maiden vanished with thy word.
Thou, thou hast broke the spell,
And dream hath heard thy word and fled.
Yea, sunk, sunk upon the path,
They o’ my dreams—slain, slain,
And dead with but thy word.
Ah, leave me here and go,
For Earth doth hold not
E’en my dreaming’s wraith.
In previous chapters I have spoken of the wit and humor of Patience Worth. In only one instance has she put humor into verse, and that I have already quoted; but at times her poetry has an airy playfulness of form that gives the effect of humor, even though the theme and the intent may be serious. Here is an example: