Sole arbiter art thou; dispose; I’ll not withstand,
If I of poverty impatiently complained,
Not for myself, for thee, was our sad lot disdained.
In all afflictions thou our remedy hast been;
I grieve to see thee want; my anguish thence grows keen.155
Dear, darling spouse! For thee was all my deep dismay;
My sighs and moans for thee came into bitter play.
I call my God to witness, in my heart and mind,
I’m ready life to lay down, if thou’rt so inclined.
O that thy heart,—the life with which my soul’s endued,—