She Was Not There

by E.A.S.

I sat, where often I had known,

In other days, her kindly care;

Her smiles no longer on me shone:

She was not there!

Her heart is still, her cheek is cold,

That heart so warm, that cheek so fair!

Unseen that form of fairest mould:

She was not there!

No more silver voice I heard

Breathe sound of sweetness to the air,

In every soft and gentle word:

She was not there!

I miss those eyes that once could shed

The light of joy on hearts that wear

Her image yet. That light hat fled:

She was not there!

I heard the songs she loved, to me

This seemed too much for grief to bear:

They made me feel, those sound of glee,

She was not there!

No more her step, the free, the light,

Nor hers the laugh, that met my ear;

On that whole scene had fallen a blight:

She was not there!

How dark are scenes, when those are not

Who hallowed them - the good the fair!

How shadowed seem'd that well-known spot:

She was not there!

But few remember long the dead;

No sorrow can the worldly share;

Yet some can ne'er forget, tho' fled,

She one was there!