"The Wife's Dream" (1851)
[Words by Lady Blessington]
Composed and sung by Henry Russell, 1812-1900

Boston: Oliver Ditson, 115 Washington St.

1.
‘Now tell me, Mary, how it is that you can look so gay,
When ev’ning after ev’ning your husband is away?
I never see you sulk or point, or say an angry word;
And yet you’ve plenty cause for tears, if all be true I’ve heard!
It is because, my sister dear, a husband you ne’er wed,
Nor saw your children gath’ring round, and asking you for bread;
You ne’er can know how it becomes a woman’s lot through life,
To be, e’en to a drunkard’s faults, a faithful, loving wife.

2.
And yet I can recal the time when bitter tears I shed,
And when my husband stagger’d home what angry words I said;
I never thought that I could be as cheerful now I seem,
Yet his happy change was brought about by a simple little dream.
One ev’ning as I sat beside our humble cottage door,
And listened for my husband’s step as oft I’d done before;
Some wicked thoughts came in my mind, and bitterly I said,
“I never wish to see him more, oh, would that he were dead!”

3.
‘They say the wretched cannot rest, but surely ’tis not so,
For very soon I fell asleep, ’mid tears of grief and woe;
I dream’d I had my wish fulfilled, my husband was no more,
I fell upon his lifeless form, and kiss’d him o’er and o’er;
Oh Dermot darling, speak to me, I meant not what I said,
Oh, speak one word unto your wife, say, say you are not dead!’
‘And sure I‘m not, my Mary dear,’­­ ‘I woke up with a scream,
And found my husband standing by­­ his death was not a dream!’

4.
‘And since that time, whene’er I feel disposed to be unkind,
The warning of that fearful dream come fresh before my mind;
And though it costs me many a pang to know the life he leads,
I try to greet him with a smile, when oft my poor heart bleeds;
I’ll humbly put my trust in God, and ask for strength to bear
The trials that he sends on earth for all of us to share;
And if by patience I can change a husband’s wandring life,
I’ll bless the hour that dream was sent to his neglected wife!’