Stedman and Hutchinson, comps. A Library of American Literature:
An Anthology in Eleven Volumes. 1891.
Vols. IX–XI: Literature of the Republic, Part IV., 1861–1889
An Untimely Thought
By Thomas Bailey Aldrich (18361907)I
I wonder what month of the year—
Will it be midnight, or morning,
And who will bend over my bier?
As I wait, at the foot of the stair,
While Lilian gives the last touch
To her robe, or the rose in her hair.
And do I like you? On my life,
You are eighteen, and not a day more,
And have not been six years my wife.
Up-stairs are not ours, to be sure!—
You are just a sweet bride in her bloom,
All sunshine, and snowy, and pure.
The little wife laughs and makes cheer—
But … I wonder what day of the week,
I wonder what month of the year.