Bereft Thomas Hardy

       &nbspIn the black winter morning
No light will be struck near my eyes
While the clock in the stairway is warning
For five, when he used to rise.
       &nbsp       &nbsp Leave the door unbarred,
       &nbsp       &nbsp The clock unwound,
       &nbsp       &nbsp Make my lone bed hard -
       &nbsp       &nbsp Would 'twere underground!

       &nbsp When the summer dawns clearly,
And the appletree-tops seem alight,
Who will undraw the curtain and cheerly
Call out that the morning is bright?

       &nbsp When I tarry at market
No form will cross Durnover Lea
In the gathering darkness, to hark at
Grey's Bridge for the pit-pat o' me.

       &nbsp When the supper crock's steaming,
And the time is the time of his tread,
I shall sit by the fire and wait dreaming
In a silence as of the dead.
       &nbsp       &nbsp Leave the door unbarred,
       &nbsp       &nbsp The clock unwound,
       &nbsp       &nbsp Make my lone bed hard -
       &nbsp       &nbsp Would 'twere underground!