After all these long years of pain,
Art thou love given to me again?"
The maiden stood with wondering eyes,
Silent, because of her surprise,
But the wife Marie gave a cry
Of joy that rose to agony
She rushed the long lost one to meet,
And falling, fainted at his feet
He held the true wife's pallid charms
Slowly reviving in his arms,
And then he surely learned to know
A little of the grand, true heart
That through so many years of woe
Waited, and prayed, and watched apart,
Keeping love's light while he was gone,
Like sacred fire still burning on

While hearts are bargained for and sold,
In fashion's fortune-chasing whirl,
We simply sing the love and faith
Out-living absence strong as death,
Of one low-born Canadian girl.




A LEGEND OF BUCKINGHAM VILLAGE.


PART I