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The Brookside

From The Birmingham Age Herald, October 17, 1913. By Richard Monckton Milnes.

I wandered by the brookside,
    I wandered by the mill;
I could not hear the brook flow,
    The noisy wheel was still;
There was no burr of grasshopper,
    No chirp of any bird,
But the beating of my own heart
    Was all the sound I heard.

I sat beneath the elm tree;
    I watched the long, long shade,
And as it grew still longer
    I did not feel afraid;
For I listened for a footfall,
    I listened for a word,
But the breathing of my own heart
    Was all the sound I heard.

He came not—no, he came not—
    The night came on alone,
The little stars sat one by one,
    Each on his golden throne;
The evening wind passed by my cheek,
    The leaves above were stirred,
But the beating of my own heart
    Was all the sound I heard.

Fast silent tears were flowing,
    When something stood behind;
A hand was on my shoulder,
    I knew its touch was kind;
It drew me nearer—nearer,
    We did not speak one word,
But the beating of our own hearts
    Was all the sound we heard.

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