The specific reference is to Novia del Mar of Campeche, Mexico; but the story is older than history.
Ships sink to bottom in billowing sea; "It's in that number," apparent to some; Walking the coast, "I'm no widow," said she; Either await or admit it won't come. How many years did she wait for that ship? Youthful and vibrant to aged and gray; How many courses of life she let slip, Married to breakers that crash on the quay. Surely, we think that her mind must have known Never again would she look on his face; Ah! But her heart made a choice what to own, Better a dream than a grief in its place. Countering calamity, comfort to cope, In with the plagues did Pandora give hope.
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