The Inebriate's Wife
I.
O mourning culd of sorrow
Who weep’st thy life away,
To whom each coming morrow
Is but a darker dayl
What deep distresses centre
Within that shattered cot,
Where plenty cannot enter,
And promise cometh not.
II.
Thy young heart’s first affections
Are blighted in thy breast,
And bitterest recollections
Deny thy spirit rest.
The memories, sweet and tender,
Of long-gone, happy years
More full and burning render
The overgush of tears.
III.
How cruel and unsating
To eharts for kindness born,
Is love returned by hating—
And meekness met with scorn.
This makes a living Martyr
Of thee, devoted Wife,
Who for his peace would barter
The young joy of thy life.
IV.
God bless thee! guardian angel
Whose love can never die,
Speak sweetly its evangel,
For so may hope be nigh;
And in our oft reverses
Some blessing haply lurks
For thee, from God, whose mercies
Are over all his works.
- Title
- The Inebriate's Wife
Part of Inebriate’s Wife, The