“ Little Wife.”
Cousins—as a boy and girl, we watched1
The glow-worm and the star,2
Made mimic trenches on the sands,3
And gathered shell and spar ;4
We built the snow-man in the drift,5
We nutted in the park ;6
I called her, shyly, “ Little wife,”7
And kissed her in the dark.8
For years our paths lay wide apart—9
As wide as sun and sea,—10
And when we met again, she seemed11
Half strange, half shy, with me ;12
But, guests together at the farm,13
We soon recalled to life14
The memory of those early days,15
When she was “ Little wife.”16
A whisper at a wedding dance—,17
A blushing, bending face,—18
And then I heard the welcome word19
That gave me cousin Grace,—20
That gave me her whose love dispelled21
The shadow on my life,22
Who lays her hand in mine to-night,23
And is—my “ Little wife.”24