The Vampirine Fair

Gilbert had sailed to India's shore,      And I was all alone:     My lord came in at my open door      And said, "O fairest one!"     He leant upon the slant bureau,      And sighed, "I am sick for thee!"     "My lord," said I, "pray speak not so,      Since wedded wife I be."     Leaning upon the slant bureau,      Bitter his next words came:     "So much I know; and likewise know      My love burns on the same!     "But since you thrust my love away,      And since it knows no cure,     I must live out as best I may      The ache that I endure."     When Michaelmas browned the nether Coomb,      And Wingreen Hill above,     And made the hollyhocks rags of bloom,      My lord grew ill of love.     My lord grew ill with love for me;      Gilbert was far from port;     And - so it was - that time did see      Me housed at Manor Court.     About the bowers of Manor Court      The primrose pushed its head     When, on a day at last, report      Arrived of him I had wed.     "Gilbert, my lord, is homeward bound,      His sloop is drawing near,     What shall I do when I am found      Not in his house but here?"     "O I will heal the injuries      I've done to him and thee.     I'll give him means to live at ease      Afar from Shastonb'ry."     When Gilbert came we both took thought:      "Since comfort and good cheer,"     Said he, "So readily are bought,      He's welcome to thee, Dear."     So when my lord flung liberally      His gold in Gilbert's hands,     I coaxed and got my brothers three      Made stewards of his lands.     And then I coaxed him to install      My other kith and kin,     With aim to benefit them all      Before his love ran thin.     And next I craved to be possessed      Of plate and jewels rare.     He groaned: "You give me, Love, no rest,      Take all the law will spare!"     And so in course of years my wealth      Became a goodly hoard,     My steward brethren, too, by stealth      Had each a fortune stored.     Thereafter in the gloom he'd walk,      And by and by began     To say aloud in absent talk,      "I am a ruined man! -     "I hardly could have thought," he said,      "When first I looked on thee,     That one so soft, so rosy red,      Could thus have beggared me!"     Seeing his fair estates in pawn,      And him in such decline,     I knew that his domain had gone      To lift up me and mine.     Next month upon a Sunday morn      A gunshot sounded nigh:     By his own hand my lordly born      Had doomed himself to die.     "Live, my dear lord, and much of thine      Shall be restored to thee!"     He smiled, and said 'twixt word and sign,      "Alas - that cannot be!"     And while I searched his cabinet      For letters, keys, or will,     'Twas touching that his gaze was set      With love upon me still.     And when I burnt each document      Before his dying eyes,     'Twas sweet that he did not resent      My fear of compromise.     The steeple-cock gleamed golden when      I watched his spirit go:     And I became repentant then      That I had wrecked him so.     Three weeks at least had come and gone,      With many a saddened word,     Before I wrote to Gilbert on      The stroke that so had stirred.     And having worn a mournful gown,      I joined, in decent while,     My husband at a dashing town      To live in dashing style.     Yet though I now enjoy my fling,      And dine and dance and drive,     I'd give my prettiest emerald ring      To see my lord alive.     And when the meet on hunting-days      Is near his churchyard home,     I leave my bantering beaux to place      A flower upon his tomb;     And sometimes say: "Perhaps too late      The saints in Heaven deplore     That tender time when, moved by Fate,      He darked my cottage door."