I stopped to watch the sad and solemn sight,
A bier it was of purest white,
Long and narrow, and all covered above
With garlands placed by hands of love.
A bier it was of purest white,
Long and narrow, and all covered above
With garlands placed by hands of love.
Beside me standing with bowed head,
The woman who begged for her daily bread.
"She died of fever, they all say,—
The fever she caught from me on that day.
I hope I may meet her sweet face,
For such as she is not an earthly race.
She was taken, and I am here
To watch them carry out her sweet young bier,—
She with all that life held dear,
I who am full of strife and bitter fear.
Yet they say that God knows the best.
She's come unto her own, the chosen blest."
The woman who begged for her daily bread.
"She died of fever, they all say,—
The fever she caught from me on that day.
I hope I may meet her sweet face,
For such as she is not an earthly race.
She was taken, and I am here
To watch them carry out her sweet young bier,—
She with all that life held dear,
I who am full of strife and bitter fear.
Yet they say that God knows the best.
She's come unto her own, the chosen blest."
[115]
