| |
| AS I wer readèn ov a stuone | |
| In Grenley church-yard all aluone, | |
| A little mâid runn’d up wi’ pride | |
| To zee me there, an’ push’d a-zide | |
| A bunch o’ bennits that did hide | 5 |
| A vess 1 her faether, as she zed, | |
| Put up above her mother’s head, | |
| To tell how much ’e lov’d her. | |
| |
| The vess wer very good, but shart, | |
| I stood an’ larn’d en off by heart:— | 10 |
| ‘Mid God, dear Miary, gi’e me griace | |
| To vind, lik’ thee, a better pliace, | |
| Wher I oonce muore mid zee thy fiace; | |
| An’ bring thy childern up to know | |
His word, that th mid come an’ show | 15 |
| Thy soul how much I lov’d thee.’ | |
| |
| ‘Wher ’s faether, then,’ I zed, ‘my chile?’ | |
| ‘Dead, too,’ she nswer’d wi’ a smile; | |
| ‘An’ I an’ brother Jim da bide | |
| At Betty White’s, o’ t’other zide | 20 |
| O’ road.’ ‘Mid He, my chile,’ I cried, | |
| ‘That ’s faether to the faetherless, | |
| Become thy faether now, an’ bless, | |
| An’ keep, an’ leäd, an’ love thee.’ | |
| |
| Though she’ve a-lost, I thought, so much, | 25 |
Still He don’t let the thoughts  ’t touch | |
| Her litsome heart by day ar night; | |
| An’ zoo, if we cood tiake it right, | |
| Da show He’ll miake his burdens light | |
| To weaker souls, an’ that his smile | 30 |
| Is sweet upon a harmless chile, | |
| When th be dead that lov’d it. | |
