The woman heard it the earth below: "To my little children I must go."
She standeth before the Lord of all: "And may I go to my children small?"
She prayed him so long, and would not cease, Until he bade her depart in peace.
"At cock-crow thou shalt return again; Longer thou shalt not there remain!"
She girded up her sorrowful bones, And rifted the walls and the marble stones.
As through the village she flitted by, The watch-dogs howled aloud to the sky.
When she came to the castle gate, There stood her eldest daughter in wait.
"Why standest thou here, dear daughter mine? How fares it with brothers and sisters thine?"
"Never art thou mother of mine, For my mother was both fair and fine.
"My mother was white, with cheeks of red, But thou art pale, and like to the dead."