PART III1 The grapes upon the Vicar's wall On the hedge-elms in the narrow lane Dear Lord! it seems but yesterday- Up through that wood behind the church, A mossy track, all over boughed, And from their house-door by that track Sweet Mary, though she was not gay, Seemed cheerful and content. 220 225 230 235 But when they to the church-yard came, I've heard poor Mary say, As soon as she stepped into the sun, And when the Vicar join'd their hands, Her limbs did creep and freeze: But when they prayed, she thought she saw Her mother on her knees. 240 In the MS. of The Friend, Part III is headed :-'The Three Graves. A Sexton's Tale. A Fragment.' A MS. note erased in the handwriting of S. T. C. is attached:-'N.B. Written for me by Sarah Stoddart before her brother was an entire Blank. I have not voluntarily been guilty of any desecration of holy Names.' In The Friend, in Sibylline Leaves, in 1828, 1829, and 1834, the poem is headed 'The Three Graves, &c.' The heading 'Part III' first appeared in 1893. Part III] III MS. erased. The 220 foll. In The Friend the lines were printed continuously. division into stanzas (as in the MS.) dates from the republication of the poem in Sibylline Leaves, 1817. 221 as ripe] as they MS. 224 High on the hedge-elms in the lane MS. erased. 225 spikes] strikes Sibylline Leaves, 1817. [Note. It is possible that 'strikes'-a Somersetshire word— (compare 'strikes of flax') was deliberately substituted for 'spikes'. It does not appear in the long list of Errata prefixed to Sibylline Leaves. Wagons passing through narrow lanes leave on the hedge-rows not single 'spikes', but little swathes or fillets of corn.] 230 over boughed] overbough'd MS. 242 they] he MS. The Friend, 1809. And o'er the church-path they returned- Just as she stepped beneath the boughs 245 'Twas a drizzly time-no ice, no snow! She stirred not out, lest she might meet 275 But Ellen, spite of miry ways And weather dark and dreary, Trudged every day to Edward's house, 260 So five months passed: this mother foul MS erased. dank MS. The Friend, 1809. 280 278 dark] Oh! Ellen was a faithful friend, And she ne'er left them till 'twas dark, 285 And now Ash-Wednesday came-that day Though Ellen always kept her church And gentle Ellen welcomed her With courteous looks and mild: Thought she, 'What if her heart should melt, 300 The day was scarcely like a day The clouds were black outright: The wind was wild; against the glass You scarce could hear the Vicar! And then and there the mother knelt, 305 310 'Oh! may a clinging curse consume 'O hear me, hear me, Lord in Heaven, O curse this woman, at whose house 308 swinging] singing MS. The Friend, 1809: swaying S. L. could not hear the Vicar. MS. The Friend, 1809. Friend, 1809 315 309 You 315 you] thou The 'By night and day, in bed and bower, O let her curséd be!!!' So having prayed, steady and slow, She rose up from her knee! I saw poor Ellen kneeling still, 320 325 When she stood up, there plainly was Giddy she seemed, and sure, there was And when the prayers were done, we all A trouble in her eye. 330 But ere she from the church-door stepped 'It was a wicked woman's curse,' Quoth she, and what care I?' 335 She smiled, and smiled, and passed it off I saw young Edward by himself Stalk fast adown the lee, He snatched a stick from every fence, A twig from every tree. He snapped them still with hand or knee, And then away they flew! As if with his uneasy limbs He knew not what to do! 360 You see, good sir! that single hill? His farm lies underneath : He heard it there, he heard it all, And only gnashed his teeth. Now Ellen was a darling love In all his joys and cares: And in the moment of his prayers He loved them both alike: Yea, both sweet names with one sweet joy He reach'd his home, and by his looks They saw his inward strife : And they clung round him with their arms, Both Ellen and his wife. And Mary could not check her tears, So on his breast she bowed; Then frenzy melted into grief, And Edward wept aloud. 365 370 375 380 To see a man tread over graves I hold it no good mark; "Tis wicked in the sun and moon, And bad luck in the dark! Part IV] The Three Graves, a Sexton's Tale, Part the IVth MS. 390 |