The third day after
I buried him, poor Lad, and there he lies.
LEONARD.
And that then _is_ his grave!--Before his death
You said that he saw many happy years?
PRIEST.
Aye, that he did--
LEONARD.
And all went well with him--
PRIEST.
If he had one, the Lad had twenty homes.
LEONARD.
And you believe then, that his mind was easy--
PRIEST.
Yes, long before he died, he found that time
Is a true friend to sorrow, and unless
His thoughts were turn'd on Leonard's luckless fortune,
He talk'd about him with a chearful love.
LEONARD.
He could not come to an unhallow'd end!
PRIEST.
Nay, God forbid! You recollect I mention'd
A habit which disquietude and grief
Had brought upon him, and we all conjectur'd
That, as the day was warm, he had lain down
Upon the grass, and, waiting for his comrades
He there had fallen asleep, that in his sleep
He to the margin of the precipice
Had walk'd, and from the summit had fallen head-long,
And so no doubt he perish'd: at the time,
We guess, that in his hands he must have had
His Shepherd's staff; for midway in the cliff
It had been caught, and there for many years
It hung--and moulder'd there.
The Priest here ended--
The Stranger would have thank'd him, but he felt
Tears rushing in; both left the spot in silence,
And Leonard, when they reach'd the church-yard gate,
As the Priest lifted up the latch, turn'd round,
And, looking at the grave, he said, "My Brother.
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