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(p. 66)

 

21.

 

ONCE IN A LIFE

 

            WE sat beneath a summer sky,

                        All round us summer sunshine lay,

                        We sat together in the bay,

            My sweetheart Kate and I.

 

            O there was throbbing at my heart,

                        And in my soul the pain was great,

                        I spoke, –– “We sail to-morrow, Kate,

            And you and I must part.”

 

            In mine my darling laid her hand,

                        “Trust me,” with faithful lips she said,

                        Ah there were never lips so red

            And sweet in all the land!

 

            I know not how these things may be,

                        But while she answered, like a spell

                        The wailing thunder rose and fell

            And died across the sea.

 

(p. 67)

            Closer in mine she stole her hand,

                        And two soft eyes looked up and down,

                        Ah there were never eyes so brown

            And deep in all the land!

 

            “Look, sweetheart, look!” she said, “I heard

                        The storm!” O me, –– all round the bay

                        The seething clouds were high and grey;

            I looked and spoke no word;

 

            But fast in mine I griped her hand

                        And rained my kisses on her hair,

                        Ah there were never curls so fair

            And golden in the land!

 

            We parted. O the lifelong pain

                        That from that bitter parting grew, ––

                        “Sweetheart,” she said, “I will be true

            Till death shall part us twain.”

 

            O would I had been wrecked at sea

                        And tossed and torn by waves and wind

                        Or ever I came home to find

            My Kate no more to me!

 

            Or ever I came home again,

                        My winsome Kate was dead, –– was dead;

                        “Till death shall part us twain,” she said,

            “Till death shall part us twain.”

 

(p. 68)

            Here, where she lies alone, I stand,

                        And in my soul, hot pulses beat,

                        Ah there was never one so sweet

            And pure in all the land!

 

            O fatal clouds across the sea!

                        O bitter day that saw us part!

                        For life is dead within my heart,

            And never more shall be!

 

            No more! I shall behold her face

                        No more! –– the shadows round me creep,

                        Love, I would lay me down and sleep

            With thee a little space.

 

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