TWO loves had I. Now both are dead,
And both are marked by tombstones white.
The one stands in the churchyard near,
The other hid from mortal sight.
The name on one all men may read,
And learn who lies beneath the stone;
The other name is written where
No eyes can read it but my own.
On one I plant a living flower,
And cherish it with loving hands;
I shun the single withered leaf
That tells me where the other stands.
To that white tombstone on the hill
In summer days I often go;
From this white stone that nearer lies
I turn me with unuttered woe.
O God, I pray, if love must die,
And make no more of life a part,
Let witness be where all can see,
And not within a living heart.
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This poem could indeed refer to the two men she married. One love died with the death of the first husband (Barnes) the second love died before the man (Kendall Adams) died in other words he stopped loving her!!
Everyone could see the tombstone of her first husband but the second tombstone is perhaps a heart of stone which obviously no living person would see.
It was not unusual in that era for marriages to continue as normal in the public eye when, in fact, love had died. -
Um, the lady lead a double life? Ouch. Perchance the unseen stone is that of her secret lover. The stone that can be seen belonged to her legal husband, and as such, she performs her widowhood duties in a public manner. The unseen one causes her pain and cannot be comprehended, read or measured by the public.
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She was married twice. her first husband was a publisher by the name of: Alfred S. Barnes -
Her second husband was named: Charles Kendall Adams - who was an educator and historian. He also served as the second president of Cornell University in the late 1800's before the turn of the century.
Some have stipulated that this poem is of the two; both of them dying before she did. However, this is not the case since the poem was written in 1900 (or before) and her second husband died the same year she did in 1902.
So, I'm thinking that you probably are correct.
My contention has always been that it was of an unborn child from her first marriage that she may have miscarried and why the stone is "unmarked" - so-to-say.
But, the speculation that it's of another "lover" is what is common amongst those who have studied this poem.
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