A stranger came to a rich man's door.
And smiled on his mighty feast;
And away his brightest child he bore,
And laid her toward the East.
He came next spring, with a smile as gay,
(At the time the East wind blows,)
And another bright creature he led away,
With a cheek like a burning rose.
And he came once more, when the spring was blue,
And whispered the last to rest,