Page:Enoch Arden, etc - Tennyson - 1864.djvu/96

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AYLMER’S FIELD.
Not knowing what possess'd him: that one kissWas Leolin's one strong rival upon earth;Seconded, for my lady follow'd suit,Seem'd hope's returning rose: and then ensuedA Martin's summer of his faded love,Or ordeal by kindness; after thisHe seldom crost his child without a sneer;The mother flow'd in shallower acrimonies:Never one kindly smile, one kindly word:So that the gentle creature shut from allHer charitable use, and face to faceWith twenty months of silence, slowly lostNor greatly cared to lose, her hold on life.Last, some low fever ranging round to spyThe weakness of a people or a house,Like flies that haunt a wound, or deer, or men,Or almost all that is, hurting the hurt—Save Christ as we believe him—found the girlAnd flung her down upon a couch of fire,Where careless of the household faces near,
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