| Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900. |
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| Thomas Hood. 1798–1845 |
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| 653. The Death-bed |
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| WE watch'd her breathing thro' the night, | |
| Her breathing soft and low, | |
| As in her breast the wave of life | |
| Kept heaving to and fro. | |
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| So silently we seem'd to speak, | 5 |
| So slowly moved about, | |
| As we had lent her half our powers | |
| To eke her living out. | |
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| Our very hopes belied our fears, | |
| Our fears our hopes belied— | 10 |
| We thought her dying when she slept, | |
| And sleeping when she died. | |
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| For when the morn came dim and sad, | |
| And chill with early showers, | |
| Her quiet eyelids closed—she had | 15 |
| Another morn than ours. | |
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