Many a mile over land and sea <br />Unsummoned my love returned to me; <br />I remember not the words he said <br />But only the trees moaning overhead. <br /> <br />And he came ready to take and bear <br />The cross I had carried for many a year, <br />But words came slowly one by one <br />From frozen lips shut still and dumb. <br /> <br />How sounded my words so still and slow <br />To the great strong heart that loved me so, <br />Who came to save me from pain and wrong <br />And to comfort me with his love so strong? <br /> <br />I felt the wind strike chill and cold <br />And vapours rise from the red-brown mould; <br />I felt the spell that held my breath <br />Bending me down to a living death.<br /><br />Elizabeth Eleanor Siddal<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/fragment-of-a-ballad/
