Thomas Bailey Aldrich (1836–1907)

THE NEW moon hung in the sky,

The sun was low in the west,

And my betroth’d and I

In the churchyard paused to rest—

Happy maiden and lover,

Dreaming the old dream over:

The light winds wander’d by,

And robins chirp’d from the nest.

And lo! in the meadow-sweet

Was the grave of a little child,

With a crumbling stone at the feet,

And the ivy running wild—

Tangled ivy and clover

Folding it over and over:

Close to my sweetheart’s feet

Was the little mound up-piled.

Stricken with nameless fears

She shrank and clung to me,

And her eyes were fill’d with tears

For a sorrow I did not see:

Lightly the winds were blowing,

Softly her tears were flowing—

Tears for the unknown years,

And a sorrow that was to be!