Thomas Hardy — Bereft

       &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!