Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry.
Volume II. Love. 1904. | | | | VIII. Wedded Love | | Darby and Joan | | Frederic Edward Weatherly (1848–1929) |
| | | 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 kissed 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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