I sat by the casement; before me there
Lay a treasured thing, a long tress of hair,
And it moved my heart with a touching power—
’Twas the cherished gift of a parting hour.
The sun-shine lay ’mid its nut-brown fold
With a loving smile, as it did of old.
When the curl waved free in its careless grace,
Like a cloud in the sky, o’er the smiling face
Of the gentle girl that I loved so well—
A dimming tear on the bright lock fell