Poems (Piatt)/Volume 2/A Tragedy of the Night
A TRAGEDY OF THE NIGHT.[AT AN EDINBURGH STREET CROSSING.]
She started suddenly from the moving mass.
The wind sprang up and caught her by the shawl,
And held her like a thing that dared not pass,—
Then shook her for an instant. That was all.
The wind sprang up and caught her by the shawl,
And held her like a thing that dared not pass,—
Then shook her for an instant. That was all.
Once beautiful, and still almost a child!
She wore her wet hair round her with a grace.
I saw the great eyes staring black and wild
As the scared lamplights shuddered from her face.
She wore her wet hair round her with a grace.
I saw the great eyes staring black and wild
As the scared lamplights shuddered from her face.
Upon her track there followed such a cry:
"Will you come back, or no?" was all it said,—
"Will you come back,or no?" The Voice wailed by;
On—to the Pit?—the girlish phantom fled.
"Will you come back, or no?" was all it said,—
"Will you come back,or no?" The Voice wailed by;
On—to the Pit?—the girlish phantom fled.