He spoke; she calmly heard,
But not to pity, nor to blame;
She breathed no single word.

He told his love,--her faith betrayed;
She heard with tearless eyes;
Could she forgive the erring maid?
She stared in cold surprise.

How fond her heart, he told,--how true;
The haughty eyelids fell;--
The kindly deeds she loved to do;
She murmured, "It is well."

But when he told that fearful day,
And how her feet were led
To where entombed in life he lay,
The breathing with the dead,

And how she bruised her tender breasts
Against the crushing stone,
That still the strong-armed clown protests
No man can lift alone,--

Oh! then the frozen spring was broke;
By turns she wept and smiled;--
"Sweet Agnes!" so the mother spoke,
"God bless my angel child.

"She saved thee from the jaws of death,--