As I wer readèn ov a stwone In Grenley church-yard all alwone, A little maïd ran up, wi' pride To zee me there, an' push'd a-zide A bunch o' bennets [198] that did hide A verse her father, as she zaïd, Put up above her mother's head, To tell how much he loved her. The verse wer short, but very good, I stood an' larn'd en where I stood: -- 'Mid [199] GOD, dear Meäry, gi'e me greäce To vind, lik' thee, a better pleäce, Where I woonce mwore mid zee thy feäce; An' bring thy childern up to know His word, that they mid come an' show Thy soul how much I loved thee.' Where 's father, then,' I zaid, 'my chile?' 'Dead too,' she answer'd wi' a smile; 'An' I an' brother Jim do bide At Betty White's, o' tother zide O' road.' 'Mid He, my chile,' I cried, 'That's father to the fatherless, Become thy father now, an' bless, An' keep, an' leäd, an' love thee.' Though she 've a-lost, I thought, so much, Still He don't let the thoughts o't touch Here litsome heart by day or night; An' zoo [200] , if we could teäke it right, Do show He'll meäke His burdens light To weaker souls, an' that His smile Is sweet upon a harmless chile, When they be dead that loved it. Footnotes: [198] bennets, coarse flowering grasses [199] mid, may [200] zoo, so |