WHEN maidens such as Hester die 
Their place ye may not well supply, 
Though ye among a thousand try 
   With vain endeavour. 

A month or more hath she been dead, 
Yet cannot I by force be led 
To think upon the wormy bed 
   And her together. 

A springy motion in her gait, 
A rising step, did indicate 
Of pride and joy no common rate, 
   That flush'd her spirit: 

I know not by what name beside 
I shall it call: if 'twas not pride, 
It was a joy to that allied, 
   She did inherit. 

Her parents held the Quaker rule, 
Which doth the human feeling cool; 
But she was train'd in Nature's school; 
   Nature had blest her. 

A waking eye, a prying mind; 
A heart that stirs, is hard to bind; 
A hawk's keen sight ye cannot blind; 
   Ye could not Hester. 

My sprightly neighbour! gone before 
To that unknown and silent shore, 
Shall we not meet, as heretofore, 
   Some summer morning-- 

When from thy cheerful eyes a ray 
Hath struck a bliss upon the day, 
A bliss that would not go away, 
   A sweet forewarning?