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and they are here; And now the purse he died to fill Will keep them well for many a year,-- Of course submissive to "God's will"! One victim more in the cruel race With rivals he himself despised, For children who can ne'er replace The father whom they sacrificed. UNDER THE PLANE TREE Under my wall And plane-tree tall The lake's blue wavelets rise and fall; In they creep, Out they sweep, And ever their rhythmic measure keep, As the light breeze over the water steals, And fills the sails of a score of keels. Soft and low, In the evening glow, Murmurs the fountain's ceaseless flow; Clear and sweet, Fair and fleet, It came from the mountain, the lake to meet, And here, where ivy and roses twine, Streamlet and lake their lives combine. One by one, In shade or sun, Each river of life its course must run; Slow or fast, Small or vast, All come to the waiting sea at last,-- The source from which they first arose, The home in which they find repose. "CONJUGI CARISSIMAE" Marble fragment, freed at last From thy prison of the past, By a spade-thrust brought to light After centuries of night,-- Let me take thee in my hand, And thy legend understand. On thy mutilated face It is difficult to trace All that once was graven here; But at least two words are clear,-- Reading still, as all agree, "Conjugi Carissimae." "To my well-beloved wife";-- Only this; but of her life, Rank or title, age or name, Or the place from which she came, Nothing further can be known Than is taught us by this stone. Touching words they are, which tell Of a husband's last farewell; Cry of a despairing heart That has seen a wife depart On death's dark, uncharted sea;-- "Conjugi Carissimae!" Was this lady still a bride, Or a matron, when she died? Had she children? Was she fair? Bright with joy, or bowed with care? Ah, pathetic mystery! "Conjugi Carissimae." Yet, in truth, what matters all, Save the fact these words recall? She was loved,--a consort mourned In the home she had adorned; And her husband long ago Left the words which tell us so. Strange, that these alone remain,-- Words of mingled love and pain! Time, which broke or blurred the rest, Tenderly has spared the best; For what better could there be? "Conjugi Carissimae." Ancient relic, white and pure, May thine epitaph endure, While the lake with dimpled smile Mirrors this hi
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