| Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). A Victorian Anthology, 1837–1895. 1895. |
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| Darby and Joan |
| | | Frederic Edward Weatherly (b. 1848) |
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| DARBY dear, we are old and gray, | |
| Fifty years since our wedding day, | |
| Shadow and sun for every one | |
| As the years roll on; | |
| Darby dear, when the world went wry, | 5 |
| Hard and sorrowful then was I— | |
| Ah! lad, how you cheered me then, | |
| Things will be better, sweet wife, again! | |
| Always the same, Darby my own, | |
| Always the same to your old wife Joan. | 10 |
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| Darby, dear, but my heart was wild | |
| When we buried our baby child, | |
| Until you whispered “Heav’n knows best!” | |
| And my heart found rest; | |
| Darby, dear, ’t was your loving hand | 15 |
| Showed the way to the better land— | |
| Ah! lad, as you kiss’d each tear, | |
| Life grew better, and Heaven more near: | |
| Always the same, Darby my own, | |
| Always the same to your old wife Joan. | 20 |
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| Hand in hand when our life was May, | |
| Hand in hand when our hair is gray, | |
| Shadow and sun for every one, | |
| As the years roll on; | |
| Hand in hand when the long night-tide | 25 |
| Gently covers us side by side— | |
| Ah! lad, though we know not when, | |
| Love will be with us forever then: | |
| Always the same, Darby, my own, | |
| Always the same to your old wife Joan. | 30 |
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