Her feet upon the mossy track
The married maiden set:
That moment—I have heard her say— 250
She wished she could forget.
The shade o'er-flushed her limbs with heat—
Then came a chill like death:
And when the merry bells rang out,
They seemed to stop her breath. 255
Beneath the foulest mother's curse
No child could ever thrive:
A mother is a mother still,
The holiest thing alive.
So five months passed: the mother still [260]
Would never heal the strife;
But Edward was a loving man
And Mary a fond wife.
'My sister may not visit us,
My mother says her nay: 265
O Edward! you are all to me,
I wish for your sake I could be
More lifesome and more gay.
'I'm dull and sad! indeed, indeed
I know I have no reason! 270
Perhaps I am not well in health,
And 'tis a gloomy season.'
'Twas a drizzly time—no ice, no snow!
And on the few fine days
She stirred not out, lest she might meet [275]
Her mother in the ways.
But Ellen, spite of miry ways
And weather dark and dreary,
Trudged every day to Edward's house,
And made them all more cheery. 280
Oh! Ellen was a faithful friend.
More dear than any sister!
As cheerful too as singing lark;
And she ne'er left them till 'twas dark,
And then they always missed her. 285
And now Ash-Wednesday came—that day
But few to church repair:
For on that day you know we read
The Commination prayer.