I told him that my heart was far away,
Beneath the palm where Victor's body lay;
That nightly in my dreams I heard the splash
Upon the shores where Ganges' waters dash.
I told him all my hope now was to stand
Amid the quiet of God's summerland;
Beneath another palm tree's shade to be,
And list the murmurs of the crystal sea.
But Robert loved me; I became his wife;
Could I forsee the sunken rocks of life?
And he was handsome then, and kind, and bright;
Could I foretell eclipses? then the night.
Oh, I have looked sometimes upon that face,
When robbed of every lineament of grace,
And I have cried unto the heavens above,
"It was not this, O God, I pledged to love;
Unsteady gait, wild brain and selfish heart--"
Flashed the red lights of danger "till death part."
Tell me, soul-searching ray, if erst I strove
To cherish, feed and guard where grew no love.
We sailed away to far Australia's shore,
Oh, the long days passed near the ocean's roar.
For him on whom I leaned in hope and trust,
Proved but coarse clay that crumbled soon to dust.
Drinking and gambling, sharks that swallow whole,
Homes, jewels, money, reason, body, soul.
Alone, for weeks to hear none call my name,
And happier alone; then baby came,
My firstborn, precious boy, I lived for him
For months; then his bright eyes grew dim,
And where the reeds and grass grew rank and wild,
We made a grave for Willie, darling child.
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