I seldom have met with a loss, Such health do my fountains bestow; There the harebells and violets blow. Not a pine in the grove is there seen, But a sweet-briar entwines it around. I have found out a gift for my fair, I have found where the wood-pigeons breed; She will say 'twas a barbarous deed; William Shenston .163. JAFFAR. Jaffar the Barmecide, the good Vizier, All but the brave Moudeer.-He, proud to show "Bring me this man," the caliph cried: the man Was brought, was gazed upon. The mutes began To bind his arms. "Welcome, brave cords," cried he; "From bonds far worse Jaffar delivered me; From wants, from shames, from loveless household fears; Restored me, loved me, put me on a par Haroun, who felt that on a soul like this Go, and since gifts so move thee, take this gem, And hold the giver as thou deemest fit," Leigh Hunt. .164. THE MAY QUEEN. You must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear; To-morrow'll be the happiest time of all the glad New-Year; Of all the glad New-Year, mother, the maddest merriest day; For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May. There's many a bright, black eye, they say, but none so bright as mine; There's Margaret and Mary, there's Kate and Caroline; I sleep so sound all night, mother, that I shall never wake, If you do not call me loud when the day begins to break; But I must gather knots of flowers, and buds and garlands gay; For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May. As I came up the valley, whom think ye I should see, But I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May. He thought I was a ghost, mother, for I was all in white, And I ran by him without speaking, like a flash of light. They call me cruel-hearted, but I care not what they say, For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May. They say he's dying all for love, but that can never be : Little Effie shall go with me, mother, to-morrow to the green, And you'll be there, too, mother, to see me made the Queen: For the shepherd lads on every side 'll come from far away, And I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May. The honeysuckle round the porch has woven its wavy bowers, And by the meadow-trenches blow the faint sweet cuckooflowers; And the wild marsh-marigold shines like fire in swamps and hollows gray, And I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May. The night-winds come and go, mother, upon the meadow grass, And the happy stars above them seem to brighten as they pass; There will not be a drop of rain the whole of the livelong day, And I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May. All the valley, mother, 'll be fresh and green and still, So you must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear, To-morrow 'll be the happiest time of all the glad New-Year; To-morrow 'll be of all the year the maddest, merriest day, For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother I'm to be Queen o' the May. Tennyson. • 165 * MY LOST YOUTH. Often I think of the beautiful town The pleasant streets of that dear old town, Is haunting my memory still : And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts." I can see the shadowy lines of its trees, And the burden of that old song It murmurs and whispers still : And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts." I remember the black wharves and the slips And Spanish sailors with bearded lips, And the voice of that wayward song Is singing and saying still: "A boy's will is the wind's will, And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts." |