Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895.
George Barlow b. 1847The Old Maid
S
What other women give their all to gain.
Others were fickle. She was passing true.
She gave pure love, and faith without a stain.
The dark eyes flashed their love on one alone.
Her life was passed in quiet and content.
The old love reigned. No rival shared the throne.
Blossomed in summer, and white winter came;
The blue ice stiffened on the silenced rill;
All times and seasons found her still the same.
What once she gave, she never took away.
Through all her youth she loved one faithful friend:
She loves him now her hair is growing gray.