'I hear a voice you cannot hear, Was I to blame, because his bride 'Ah, Colin, give not her thy vows, Nor thou, fond maid, receive his kiss, Impatient, both prepare! But know, fond maid, and know, false man, That Lucy will be there! 'Then bear my corse, my comrades, bear, This bridegroom blithe to meet, He, in his wedding trim so gay, I, in my winding-sheet.' She spoke, she died, her corse was borne The bridegroom blithe to meet, He in his wedding trim so gay, She in her winding-sheet. Then what were perjur'd Colin's thoughts? The bridesmen flock'd round Lucy dead, At once his bosom swell : The damps of death bedew'd his brow, He shook, he groan'd, he fell. T. Tickell LV THE REDBREAST CHASING THE BUTTERFLY RT thou the bird whom man loves best, A The pious bird with the scarlet breast, Our little English robin? The bird that comes about our doors And Russia far inland? The bird, that by some name or other Could father Adam open his eyes, Under the branches of the tree: In and out, he darts about; Can this be the bird to man so good, That after their bewildering, Cover'd with leaves the little children, So painfully in the wood? What ail'd thee, robin, that thou couldst pursue A beautiful creature, That is gentle by nature? Beneath the summer sky, From flower to flower let him fly; 'Tis all that he wishes to do. The cheerer, thou, of our in-door sadness, W. Wordsworth LVI THE CHILDREN IN THE WOOD N WOW ponder well, you parents dear, These words which I shall write ; A doleful story you shall hear, In time brought forth to light. A gentleman of good account In Norfolk dwelt of late, Sore sick he was, and like to die, In love they lived, in love they died, The one, a fine and pretty boy, Not passing three years old; As plainly doth appear, When he to perfect age should come, Three hundred pounds a year. And to his little daughter Jane, 'Now, brother,' said the dying man, 'Look to my children dear; Be good unto my boy and girl, 'You must be father and mother both, And uncle all in one ; God knows what will become of them, When I am dead and gone.' With that bespake their mother dear, 'O brother kind,' quoth she, 'You are the man must bring our babes To wealth or misery. 'And if you keep them carefully, They kiss'd their children small: These speeches then their brother spake The parents being dead and gone, A twelvemonth and a day, But, for their wealth, he did devise He bargain'd with two ruffians strong Which were of furious mood, That they should take these children young And slay them in a wood. He told his wife an artful tale: He would the children send To be brought up in fair London, |