The Poetical Works of George Crabbe

For if no ghost the promised visit paid,
Still was a deep and strong impression made,
That wisdom had approved, and prudence
had obey'd;

But from another world that warning came,
And O! in this be ended all my shame!
Like the first being of my sex I fell,
Tempted, and with the tempter doom'd to
dwell-

'This was her last, for she described no

The rankling feelings of a mind so sore,
But died in peace.-One moral let us
draw-

Be it a ghost or not the lady saw

'If our discretion tells us how to live, We need no ghost a helping hand to give;

He was the master-fiend, and where he reign'd But if discretion cannot us restrain, was hell."

then appears a ghost would come in vain.'

BOOK XVII. THE WIDOW

The morning Walk-Village Scenery-The | She look'd like one who could, in tender tone, Widow's dwelling-Her Story related-The Say, "Will you let a lady sigh alone? first Husband-His Indulgence-Its Consequence-Dies-The second-His Authority-Its Effects-His Death-A third Husband-Determinately indulgent-He dies also-The Widow's Retirement.

RICHARD one morning-it was custom

now

Walk'd and conversed with labourers at the plough,

With thrashers hastening to their daily task,
With woodmen resting o'er the enlivening
flask,

And with the shepherd, watchful of his fold
Beneath the hill, and pacing in the cold:
Further afield he sometimes would proceed,
And take a path wherever it might lead.

It led him far about to Wickham Green,
Where stood the mansion of the village queen;
Her garden yet its wintry blossoms bore,
And roses graced the windows and the door-
That lasting kind, that through the varying
year

Or in the bud or in the bloom appear;

All flowers that now the gloomy days adorn
Rose on the view, and siniled upon that morn:
Richard a damsel at the window spied,
Who kindly drew a useless veil aside,
And show'd a lady who was sitting by,
So pensive, that he almost heard her sigh:
Full many years she could, no question, tell,
But in her mourning look'd extremely well.
"In truth,'said Richard, when he told at night
His tale to George, it was a pleasant sight;

See! Time has touch'd me gently in his race,
And left no odious furrows in my face;
See, too, this house and garden, neat and
trim,

Kept for its master-
him?"

-Will you stand for

What is her fortune we are left to guess,
But good the sign-she does not much
profess;

Poor she is not,-and there is that in her
That easy men to strength of mind prefer ;
She may be made, with little care and skill,
Yielding her own, t' adopt an husband's will:
Women there are, who if a man will take
The helm and steer-will no resistance make;
Who, if neglected, will the power assume,
And then what wonder if the shipwreck come?
'Queens they will be if man allow the means,
And give the power to these domestic queens;
Whom, if he rightly trains, he may create
And make obedient members of his state.'

'Harriet at school was very much the same As other misses, and so home she came, Like other ladies, there to live and learn, To wait her season, and to take her turn. 'Their husbands maids as priests their livings gain,

The best, they find, are hardest to obtain ;
On those that offer both awhile debate-
"I need not take it, it is not so late;
Better will come if we will longer stay,
And strive to put ourselves in fortune's way:'
And thus they wait, till many years are past,
For what comes slowly-but it comes at last.
'Harriet was wedded,—but it must be said,
The vow'd obedience was not duly paid:
Hers was an easy man,-it gave him pain
To hear a lady murmur and complain :
He was a merchant, whom his father made
Rich in the gains of a successful trade:
A lot more pleasant, or a view more fair,
Has seldom fallen to a youthful pair.

'But what is faultless in a world like this? In every station something seems amiss : The lady, married, found the house too small"Two shabby parlours, and that ugly hall! Had we a cottage somewhere, and could meet One's friends and favourites ir. one's snug retreat;

Or only join a single room to these,
It would be living something at our ease,
And have one's self, at home, the comfort
that one sees."

The room was built,--and Harriet did not
know

A prettier dwelling, either high or low;
But Harriet loved such conquests, loved to
plead

With her reluctant man, and to succeed;
It was such pleasure to prevail o'er one
Who would oppose the thing that still was
done,

Who never gain'd the race, but yet would
groan and run.

'But there were times when love and pity

gave

Whatever thoughtless vanity could crave:
She now the carriage chose with freshest name,
And was in quite a fever till it came;
But can a carriage be alone enjoy'd?
The pleasure not partaken is destroy'd ;
"I must have some good creature to attend
On morning visits as a kind of friend."

'A courteous maiden then was found to sit
Beside the lady, for her purpose fit,
Who had been train'd in all the soothing ways
And servile duties from her early days;
One who had never from her childhood known
A wish fulfill'd, a purpose of her own:

Her part it was to sit beside the dame,

And give relief in every want that came;
To soothe the pride, to watch the varying
look,

And bow in silence to the dumb rebuke.

'This supple being strove with all her skill
To draw her master's to her lady's will;
For they were like the magnet and the steel,
At times so distant that they could not feel;
Then would she gently move them, till she

saw

That to each other they began to draw;
And then would leave them, sure on her return
In Harriet's joy her conquest to discern.

'She was a mother now, and grieved to find The nursery window caught the eastern wind; What could she do with fears like these oppress'd ?

She built a room all window'd to the west;
For sure in one so dull, so bleak, so old,
She and her children must expire with cold:
Meantime the husband murmur'd-" So he
might;
right ?"

'Such powers of reason, and of mind such She would be judged by Cousins-Was it strength,

Fought with man's fear, and they prevail'd at

length:

'Water was near them, and her mind afloat, The lady saw a cottage and a boat,

And thought what sweet excursions they might make,

How they might sail, what neighbours they might take,

And nicely would she deck the lodge upon the lake.

'She now prevail'd by habit; had her will,

Such sleepless nights! such broken rest! her frame

Rack'd with diseases that she could not name! With pangs like hers no other was oppress'd!" Weeping, she said, and sigh'd herself to rest. "The suffering husband look'd the world around,

And found her patient husband sad and And saw no friend: on him misfortune still:

frown'd;

Yet this displeased; she gain'd, indeed, the Him self-reproach tormented; sorely tried,

prize,

But not the pleasure of her victories;

Was she a child to be indulged? He knew She would have right, but would have reason too.

'Now came the time, when in her husband's face

Care, and concern, and caution she could

trace;

His troubled features gloom and sadness bore,
Less he resisted, but he suffer'd more;
His nerves were shook like hers; in him her
grief

Had much of sympathy, but no relief.

'She could no longer read, and therefore kept A girl to give her stories while she wept; Better for Lady Julia's woes to cry, Than have her own for ever in her eye: Her husband grieved, and o'er his spirits came Gloom, and disease attack'd his slender frame; He felt a loathing for the wretched state Of his concerns, so sad, so complicate; Grief and confusion seized him in the day, And the night pass'd in agony away:

666

My ruin comes!" was his awakening thought,

And vainly through the day was comfort sought;

There, take my all!" he said, and in his dream

Heard the door bolted, and his children

As weak as wailing infancy or age,

How could the widow with the world engage? Fortune not now the means of comfort gave,

666

Yet all her comforts Harriet wept to have. My helpless babes," she said, will nothing know,"

Yet not a single lesson could bestow; Her debts would overwhelm her, that was sure, But one privation would she not endure; "We shall want bread! the thing is past a doubt."

"Then part with Cousins!"-"Can I do without?"—___

"Dismiss your servants!"-"Spare me them, I pray!".

"At least your carriage !"—" What will people say ?

"That useless boat, that folly on the lake!". "O! but what cry and scandal will it make!" It was so hard on her, who not a thing

Had done such mischief on their heads to

He saw entangled and perplexed affairs, And Time's sure hand at work on their repairs;

Children he saw, but nothing could he see Why he might not their careful father be; And looking keenly round him, he believed That what was lost might quickly be retrieved. 'Now thought our clerk-"I must not mention love,

That she at least must seem to disapprove;
But I must fear of poverty enforce,
And then consent will be a thing of course.
""Madam!" said he, "with sorrow I relate,
That our affairs are in a dreadful state;

666

I call'd on all our friends, and they declared
They dared not meddle-not a creature dared;
But still our perseverance chance may aid,
And though I'm puzzled, I am not afraid;
If you, dear lady, will attention give
To me, the credit of the house shall live;
Do not, I pray you, my proposal blame,
It is my wish to guard your husband's fame,
And ease your trouble; then your cares resign
To my discretion-and, in short, be mine."
"Yours! O! my stars!-Your goodness,
sir, deserves

My grateful thanks-take pity on my nerves;
shake and tremble at a thing so new,
And fear 'tis what a lady should not do;
And then to marry upon ruin's brink
In all this hurry-What will people think?"
Nay, there's against us neither rule nor
law,

666

And people's thinking is not worth a straw;
Those who are prudent have too much to do
With their own cares to think of me and you;
And those who are not are so poor a race,
That what they utter can be no disgrace:
Come! let us now embark, when time and tide
Invite to sea, in happy hour decide;
If yet we linger, both are sure to fail,
The turning waters and the varying gale;
Trust me, our vessel shall be ably steer'd,
Nor will I quit her, till the rocks are clear'd."
Allured and frighten'd, soften'd and afraid,
The widow doubted, ponder'd, and obey'd:
So were they wedded, and the careful man
His reformation instantly began;
Began his state with vigour to reform,
And made a calm by laughing at the storm.
'Th' attendant-maiden he dismiss'd-for
why?

She might on him and love like his rely:

She needed none to form her children's mind,
That duty nature to her care assign'd;
In vain she mourn'd, it was her health he
prized,

And hence enforced the measures he advised:
She wanted air; and walking, she was told,
Was safe, was pleasant!-he the carriage sold;
He found a tenant who agreed to take
The boat and cottage on the useless lake;
The house itself had now superfluous room,
And a rich lodger was induced to come.

The lady wonder'd at the sudden change, That yet was pleasant, that was very strange; When every deed by her desire was done, She had no day of comfort-no, not one; When nothing moved or stopp'd at her request,

Her heart had comfort, and her temper rest;
For all was done with kindness,--most polite
Was her new lord, and she confess'd it right;
For now she found that she could gaily live
On what the chance of common life could give:
And her sick mind was cured of every ill,
By finding no compliance with her will;
For when she saw that her desires were vain,
She wisely thought it foolish to complain.

'Born for her man, she gave a gentle sigh To her lost power, and grieved not to comply; Within, without, the face of things improved, And all in order and subjection moved.

'As wealth increased, ambition now began To swell the soul of the aspiring man; In some few years he thought to purchase land, And build a seat that Hope and Fancy plann'd ;

To this a name his youthful bride should give! Harriet, of course, not many years would live ; Then he would farm, and every soil should show The tree that best upon the place would grow: He would, moreover, on the Bench debate On sundry questions-when a magistrate; Would talk of all that to the state belongs, The rich man's duties, and the poor man's wrongs;

He would with favourites of the people rank, And him the weak and the oppress'd should thank.

'Tis true those children, orphans then!

would need

Help in a world of trouble to succeed! And they should have it-He should then possess

All that man needs for earthly happiness.

"Proud words, and vain!" said Doctor Young; and proud

They are; and vain, were by our clerk allow'd;

For, while he dream'd, there came both pain and cough,

And fever never tamed, and bore him off; Young as he was, and planning schemes to live

The widow's riches gave her much delight, And some her claims, and she resolved to write.

""He knew her grievous loss, how every care Devolved on her, who had indeed her share; She had no doubt of him,--but was as sure As that she breathed her money was secure ; But she had made a rash and idle vow To claim her dues, and she must keep it now:

With more delight than man's success can So, if it suited

give;

Building a mansion in his fancy vast, Beyond the Gothic pride of ages past! While this was plann'd, but ere a place was sought,

The timber season'd, or the quarry wrought, Came Death's dread summons, and the man was laid

In the poor house the simple sexton made. 'But he had time for thought when he was ill,

And made his lady an indulgent will: 'Tis said he gave, in parting, his advice, "It is sufficient to be married twice; To which she answer'd, as 'tis said, again, "There's none will have you if you're poor and plain,

And if you're rich and handsome there is none Will take refusal-let the point alone."

'Be this or true or false, it is her praise She mourn'd correctly all the mourning days; But grieve she did not, for the canker grief Soils the complexion, and is beauty's thief; Nothing, indeed, so much will discompose Our public mourning as our private woes; When tender thoughts a widow's bosom probe, She thinks not then how graceful sits the robe;

But our nice widow look'd to every fold,
And every eye its beauty might behold!
It was becoming; she composed her face,
She look'd serenely, and she mourn'd with
grace.

'Some months were pass'd, but yet there
wanted three

Of the full time when widows wives may be; One trying year, and then the mind is freed, And man may to the vacant throne succeed. 'There was a tenant-he, to wit, who hired That cot and lake, that were so much admired;

A man of spirit, one who doubtless meant, Though he delay'd awhile, to pay his rent;

And for this there came

A civil answer to the gentle dame :
Within the letter were excuses, thanks,
And clean Bank paper from the best of banks;
There were condolence, consolation, praise,
With some slight hints of danger in delays;
With these good things were others from the
lake,

Perch that were wish'd to salmon for her sake, And compliment as sweet as new-born hope could make.

'This led to friendly visits, social calls, And much discourse of races, rambles, balls; But all in proper bounds, and not a word Before its time,-the man was not absurd, Nor was he cold; but when she might expect, A letter came, and one to this effect.

"That if his eyes had not his love convey'd, They had their master shamefully betray'd; But she must know the flame, that he was sure, Nor she could doubt, would long as life

endure:

Both were in widow'd state, and both possess'd
Of ample means to make their union bless'd;
That she had been confined he knew for truth,
And begg'd her to have pity on her youth;
Youth, he would say, and he desired his wife
To have the comforts of an easy life:
She loved a carriage, loved a decent seat
To which they might at certain times retreat;
Servants indeed were sorrows,-yet a few
They still must add, and do as others do :
She too would some attendant damsel need,
To hear, to speak, to travel, or to read: "
In short, the man his remedies assign'd
For his foreknown diseases in the mind :-
"First," he presumed, "that in a nervous case
Nothing was better than a change of place:'
He added, too, ""Twas well that he could
prove

That his was pure, disinterested love;
Not as when lawyers couple house and land
In such a way as none can understand;

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