Poem by Thomas Hardy

The Husband’s View

‘Can anything avail
Beldame, for my hid grief? –
Listen: I’ll tell the tale,
It may bring faint relief! –

‘I came where I was not known,
In hope to flee my sin;
And walking forth alone
A young man said, “Good e’en.”

‘In gentle voice and true
He asked to marry me;
“You only – only you
Fulfil my dream!” said he.

‘We married o’ Monday morn,
In the month of hay and flowers;
My cares were nigh forsworn,
And perfect love was ours.

‘But ere the days are long
Untimely fruit will show;
My Love keeps up his song,
Undreaming it is so.

‘And I awake in the night,
And think of months gone by,
And of that cause of flight
Hidden from my Love’s eye.

‘Discovery borders near,
And then! . . . But something stirred! –
My husband – he is here!
Heaven – has he overheard?’ –

‘Yes; I have heard, sweet Nan;
I have known it all the time.
I am not a particular man;
Misfortunes are no crime:

‘And what with our serious need
Of sons for soldiering,
That accident, indeed,
To maids, is a useful thing!’

1. The Aërolite
2. Genitrix Laesa
3. V.R. 1819–1901
4. Song from Heine
5. The Bad Example

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