Read "The Reward" by Marie Van Vorst online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
I heard the little cricket cry / Last night in the dull rain -- as I / Put on my dark, my sombre dress. / (I had no ear for happiness! )
And as I braided up my hair / I saw the white threads, silvered there, / And on my cheeks the mark of tears, / My only kisses thro' the years.
Sudden -- that little voice I heard -- / Finer than call of cheerful bird. / A human -- tender -- crying sound / In the low grasses near the ground.
Just as I said: -- "_I will take Cheer / Instead of Joy! _" -- Your footsteps, Dear, / Fell on the garden walk. and when / I put my candle out,. Again
Late in the night I heard it plain / The cricket, singing in the rain.