MARY ROSE AND ELINOR

Mary Rose and Elinor, walking through the park;

One is happy, one is very frightened by the dark.

Mary sees a million stars, near enough to touch;

The gentle breeze brings lilac scent that Mary loves so much.

The earth is soft and warm beneath her feet; the world is young.

The very taste of life is new and sweet upon her tongue.

To Elinor, the sky is cold; the stars are points of pain.

She shivers as the chilly breeze foretells a threat of rain.

The grass is damp and treacherous beneath her cautious feet;

She hates the syrupy blossom-smell that Mary finds so sweet.

At the end of the park waits Mary's love - her heart, her soul, her life.

A kind and gentle man who waits for Mary Rose, his wife.

But no one waits for Elinor, and all the world is old.

Her heart is tossed on a restless sea of tears, so dark and cold.

Ah, little did they know that night the fate of Mary Rose;

She bore a son, then passed away. Now everybody knows -

'Twas Elinor who raised the boy, and had a happy life;

For Mary Rose's love, bereft, made Elinor his wife!