Did she give to her child in great joy.
My baby was soon placed in the care
Of my mother, whose heart gave to him
What his mother denied him, to spare
All her time in fast life, thus to swim.
When her child was a few short months old,
With another man she ran away.—
That's my history, true as 'tis told,
Of a boy seventeen, and a day.
"My dear daughter shall not marry you;
No divorced man shall wed my fair child;
Not one shadow like this on the true,
Shall so follow her, tender and mild."
But sweet Gwendolyn, when she had heard
Of her lover's sad history, knew
That, however her mind thought the word
Her father had said, she only grew
More in love with this heart of a man.
Now to her he was not a mere boy;
His love now would be firmer far than
If no grief had not heightened his joy.
She was true to her lover, and held;
Not an inch would withdraw of her love.
Furthermore, to all others compelled
All the homage to him, far above
Hitherto they had given to him,
For she said that in passing thus through
Such great sacrifice of his fair youth,
That much greater to prize him she knew,
And she gave him a bountiful truth.
My baby was soon placed in the care
Of my mother, whose heart gave to him
What his mother denied him, to spare
All her time in fast life, thus to swim.
When her child was a few short months old,
With another man she ran away.—
That's my history, true as 'tis told,
Of a boy seventeen, and a day.
"My dear daughter shall not marry you;
No divorced man shall wed my fair child;
Not one shadow like this on the true,
Shall so follow her, tender and mild."
But sweet Gwendolyn, when she had heard
Of her lover's sad history, knew
That, however her mind thought the word
Her father had said, she only grew
More in love with this heart of a man.
Now to her he was not a mere boy;
His love now would be firmer far than
If no grief had not heightened his joy.
She was true to her lover, and held;
Not an inch would withdraw of her love.
Furthermore, to all others compelled
All the homage to him, far above
Hitherto they had given to him,
For she said that in passing thus through
Such great sacrifice of his fair youth,
That much greater to prize him she knew,
And she gave him a bountiful truth.
[128]
