The shaft of death! A sudden illness seized
The young and beautiful. Her bridal train
Wept o’er her bier. And he who should have led
A bride in triumph from the altar, strewed
Sad flowers on Ellen’s grave, and with a grief
Tearless, consuming, in its mighty strength,
Himself seemed death-struck. Agony intense,
Dark desolation of the inmost soul,
And dread prostration of its sympathies
He long endured. The light of life to him