Poems (Truesdell)/The Neglected Wife
THE NEGLECTED WIFE.
"Is it he? is it he?—do I hear his step?" And with trembling haste to the window she crept; "No, 'twas but the rustling of the breeze 'Mid the autumn woods, as they cast their leaves.
"I have waited long, I have looked in vain—O God! will he never return again?" Long, long had she stood by the casement there, With her settled look of deep despair;
Ever her cheek would flush and pale As she heard the rude winds of the early gale: "He is gone!" once more she murmured in pain, "He is gone, and I dare not even complain.
"Just, just is thy sentence, O God I and I bow With a broken spirit before thee now, Had I heeded the words by my father spoken, Or a mother's prayer ere her heart had broken;
"Not turned a deaf ear to a brother brave, Nor slighted the warning he kindly gave; I should not have wept, and wept in vain, For that faithless one to return again."