Deserted

She stood that night with a face so set,
So filled with bitterness and despair,
Closing my eyes, I can see her yet,
Sorrowful, broken, but passing fair.

Her eyes were fixed on the sky above,
Where stars were shining so soft and clear;
Did the ghosts of innocence and love
Steal out of the gloom and stand quite near?

So young to quiver beneath such smart!
A fairer brow ’twould be hard to find--
The pity of it! a broken heart,
And childhood lying so close behind.

I heard her whisper, “’Twas long ago
That I laughed for joy at the touch of morn,
Kneeled down and prayed in the light and glow--
Ah me! I cry now--tempest-torn:

“‘Thank God for night, and the world asleep’--
Their eyes pierce through me the long, long day--
Thank God for the darkness, soft and deep,
That folds me, and hides me quite away!”