Poem by Thomas Hardy

Her Late Husband

(King’s Hintock, 182–)

‘No – not where I shall make my own;
But dig his grave just by
The woman’s with the initialed stone –
As near as he can lie –
After whose death he seemed to ail,
Though none considered why.

‘And when I also claim a nook,
And your feet tread me in,
Bestow me, in my maiden name,
Among my kith and kin,
That strangers gazing may not dream
I did a husband win.’

‘Widow, your wish shall be obeyed:
Though, thought I, certainly
You’d lay him where your folk are laid,
And your grave, too, will be,
As custom hath it; you to right,
And on the left hand he.’

‘Aye, sexton; such the Hintock rule,
And none has said it nay;
But now you find a native here
Eschews that ancient way . . . 
And it may be, some Christmas night,
When angels walk, they’ll say:

‘ “O strange interment! Civilized lands
Afford few types thereof;
Here is a man who takes his rest
Beside his very Love,
Beside the one who was his wife
In our sight up above!” ’

1. Genitrix Laesa
2. Song from Heine
3. V.R. 1819–1901
4. Paths of Former Time
5. Over the Coffin

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