She Loved Him.

She loved him--but she heeded not--         Her heart had only room for pride:     All other feelings were forgot,         When she became another's bride.     As from a dream she then awoke,         To realize her lonely state,     And own it was the vow she broke         That made her drear and desolate!     She loved him--but the sland'rer came,         With words of hate that all believed;     A stain thus rested on his name--         But he was wronged and she deceived;     Ah! rash the act that gave her hand,         That drove her lover from her side--     Who hied him to a distant land,         Where, battling for a name, he died!     She loved him--and his memory now         Was treasured from the world apart:     The calm of thought was on her brow,         The seeds of death were in her heart.     For all the world that thing forlorn         I would not, could not be, and live--     That casket with its jewel gone,         A bride who has no heart to give!