Should be with the mother they had lost,
When a stranger came to take her place.
And I knew so much: for I had lived
With my lady since her childhood: known
What her young and happy days had been,
And the grief no other eyes had seen—
I had watch’d and sorrow’d for alone.
Ah! she once had such a happy smile!
I had known how sorely she was tried:
Six short years before, her eyes were bright