A BRIDE - by James Whitcomb Riley

 

A  BRIDE  by  James Whitcomb Riley 'O I am weary!' she sighed, as her billowyHair she unloosed in a torrent of goldThat rippled and fell o'er a figure as willowy,Graceful and fair as a goddess of old:Over her jewels she flung herself drearily,Crumpled the laces that snowed on her breast,Crushed with her fingers the lily that wearilyClung in her hair like a dove in its nest--.And naught but her shadowy form in the mirrorTo kneel in dumb agony down and weep near her! 'Weary--?' Of what? Could we fathom the mystery--?Lift up the lashes weighed down by her tearsAnd wash with their dews one white face from her history,Set like a gem in the red rust of years?Nothing will rest her-- unless he who died of herStrayed from his grave, and in place of the groom,Tipping her face, kneeling there by the side of her,Drained the old kiss to the dregs of his doom--.And naught but that shadowy form in the mirrorTo heel in dumb agony down and weep near her!