Explore "Tess's Lament" by Thomas Hardy on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
I. I WOULD that folk forgot me quite, / Forgot me quite! / I would that I could shrink from sight, / And no more see the sun. / Would it were time to say farewell, / To claim my nook, to need my knell, / Time for them all to stand and tell / Of my day's work as done.
II. Ah! dairy where I lived so long, / I lived so long; / Where I would rise up stanch and strong, / And lie down hopefully. / 'Twas there within the chimney-seat / He watched me to the clock's slow beat- / Loved me, and learnt to call me sweet, / And whispered words to me.