Woman's faith, and woman's trust - br Write the characters in the dust; br Stamp them on the running stream, br Print them on the moon's pale beam, br And each evanescent letter br Shall be clearer, firmer, better, br And more permanent, I ween, br Than the thing those letters mean. br br I have strain'd the spider's thread br 'Gainst the promise of a maid; br I have weigh'd a grain of sand br 'Gainst her plight of heart and hand; br I told my true love of the token, br How her faith proved light, and her word was broken: br Again her word and truth she plight, br And I believed them again ere night.