She bore it till the simple veins
She bore it till the simple veins
Traced azure on her hand —
Til pleading, round her quiet eyes
The purple Crayons stand

Till Daffodils had come and gone
I cannot tell the sum
And then she ceased to bear it —
And with the Saints sat down

No more her patient figure
At twilight soft to meet —
No more her timid bonnet
Upon the village street —

But Crowns instead, and Courtiers —
And in the midst so fair
Whose but her shy — immortal face
Of whom we’re whispering here?