<html xmlns:tei="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0"><body><h1 align="center" class="head">The Vestal</h1><div class="stanza"><p class="line"><span class="smallcaps">She</span> goes unwedded all her days</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Because some man she never knew,</p><p class="line">Her destined mate, has won his bays,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Passed the low door of darkness through.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Sometimes she has a wild surmise</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Of what dear name he used to have,</p><p class="line">And what the colour of his eyes,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">And was he gay, or was he grave.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">Or if his hair was brown or gold,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Or if his voice was low and clear</p><p class="line">To tell his love with, never told</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">To hers or any woman's ear.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">His voice is lost upon the wind</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">And when the rain beats on her heart</p><p class="line">His eyes elude her, warm and kind,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Where the dim shadows steal apart.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">What of their children all unborn?</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">What of the house they should have built?</p><p class="line">She wanders through her days forlorn,</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">The untasted cup of joy is spilt.</p></div><div class="stanza"><p class="line">She lives unwedded, -- as for him</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">He sleeps too sound for any fret</p><p class="line">At their lost kisses, or the dream</p><p class="line" style="text-indent:5%">Of the poor girl he never met.</p></div></body></html> · Great War