Page:Pebbles and Shells (Hawkes collection).djvu/121

A cottage stands in yonder dell
Where one fleet year we two did dwell;
 And life was happy as a dream,
 And peaceful as the silver stream,
Until one day, beside the deep
My little darling fell asleep.

I called her long—I called her wild!
But cold in death she only smiled;
 I clasped her hand and bade her wake,
 I told her that my heart would break,
But cold in death her hand was chill,
Her ashen lips were mute and still.

'Twas long ago, that mournful day,
When tenderly we laid away
 The fairest flower in all the vale,
 All cold and lifeless fair and pale.
Folded her hands upon her breast
And gently laid her down to rest.

And now at fall of eventide
I wander by the riverside
 And sit me down beneath the tree
 That sheltered little Nell and me,
And by the river wide and deep
I calmly sit and wait for sleep.

And o'er the crag the waters break
And still my darling will not wake,

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