Ellen Ray
A quiet song for Ellen—The patient Ellen Ray,A dreamer in the nightfall,A watcher in the day.The wedded of the sailorWho keeps so far away:A shadow on his foreheadFor patient Ellen Ray.
When autumn winds were drivingAcross the chafing bay,He said the words of angerThat wasted Ellen Ray:He said the words of angerAnd went his bitter way:Her dower was the darkness—The patient Ellen Ray.
Your comfort is a phantom,My patient Ellen Ray;You house it in the night-time,It fronts you in the day;And when the moon is very lowAnd when the lights are grey,You sit and hug a sorry hope,My patient Ellen Ray!
You sit and hug a sorry hope—Yet who will dare to say,The sweetness of OctoberIs not for Ellen Ray?The bearer of a burdenMust rest at fall of day;And you have borne a heavy one,My patient Ellen Ray.