I loved a little maiden <br />In the golden years gone by; <br />She lived in a mill, as they all do <br />(There is doubtless a reason why). <br />But she faded in the autumn <br />When the leaves began to fade, <br />And the night before she faded, <br />These words to me she said: <br />'Do not forget me, Henry, <br />Be noble and brave and true; <br />But I must not bide, for the world is wide, <br />And the sky above is blue.' <br /> <br />So I said farewell to my darling, <br />And sailed away and came back; <br />And the good ship Jane was in port again, <br />And I found that they all loved Jack. <br />But Polly and I were sweethearts, <br />As all the neighbours know, <br />Before I met with the mill-girl <br />Twenty years ago. <br />So I thought I would go and see her, <br />But alas, she had faded too! <br />She could not bide, for the world was wide, <br />And the sky above was blue. <br /> <br />And now I can only remember <br />The maid—the maid of the mill, <br />And Polly, and one or two others <br />In the churchyard over the hill. <br />And I sadly ask the question, <br />As I weep in the yew-tree's shade <br />With my elbow on one of their tombstones, <br />'Ah, why did they all of them fade?' <br />And the answer I half expected <br />Comes from the solemn yew, <br />'They could none of them bide, for the world was wide, <br />And the sky above was blue.'<br /><br />Robert Fuller Murray<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/stanzas-for-music-4/
