DISTRAUGHT 
A Ballad 

I 

All decked with finery 

She stands, in purple dressed; 
A satin ribbon coy 

Is hidden in her breast. 

And playfully there glow 
Sweet roses in her hair, 
Some are like flakes of snow, 
The others—blood and fire. 

But never a rose is playing 
Upon her pallid face. 

She sinks, distressful, bowing, 
As hart shot in the chase. 

Tremulous, pale she looks 
In diamonds’ full display. 
The blood drains from her cheeks 
Into her heart away. 

“I have been driven again 
To gaiety’s false allure, 
My heart oppressed with pain, 
My wavering steps unsure. 

“O’er soul’s high-billowing sea 
Other desires have called. 
Enough of this display, 
So loveless and so cold. 

“T cannot understand it, 

Within my breast this flame; 
Heaven alone can grant it, 

No mortal speak its name. 

“I would bear suffering even, 
Willingly I would die, 

That I might merit Heaven, 
A better land might see.” 

She lifts her tearful gaze 

To Heaven’s radiance, 
Her bosom’s fantasies 

In sighs give utterance. 

Quietly she lays her down 

And says a heartfelt prayer. 
Sleep folds her gently round, 

An angel watches her. 

II 

Years have flown swiftly by, 

Hollow her cheeks have grown. 
Quieter, sadder she, 

More distant, more withdrawn. 

She struggles, but in vain, 
Fighting great agony, 

Those mighty powers to tame; 
Her heart leaps violently. 

Dreaming, one day she lies 

In bed, but not asleep, 
Drowning in nothingness... 

The blow has struck full deep. 

Her look becomes a stare, 
Hollow, and void, and numb. 
She raves, all unaware, 
In wild delirium. 

And from her eye there streams 
The blood that nothing stays. 

The pain now quieter seems, 
Now flash the Spirit’s rays. 

“The gates of Heaven yield, 
And I am moved with awe. 

My hopes shall be fulfilled, 
Nearer the stars I’ll draw.” 

Trembling on lips so pale, 

The soul would seek to roam. 
The gentle spirits sail 

To their aethereal home. 

Striving profound has drawn her, 
Lured by a magic bond. 

Too cold has life been for her, 
Too poor this earthly land.