Chapter 4

O waly, waly, up the bank, O waly, waly, doun the brae, And waly, waly, yon burn-side, Where I and my love were wont to gae! I leaned my back unto an aik, I thocht it was a trustie tree, But first it bowed and syne it brak',-- Sae my true love did lichtlie me.

O waly, waly, but love be bonnie A little time while it is new! But when it's auld it waxeth cauld, And fadeth awa' like the morning dew. O wherefore should I busk my heid. Or wherefore should I kame my hair? For my true love has me forsook, And says he'll never lo'e me mair.

Noo Arthur's Seat sall be my bed, The sheets sall ne'er be pressed by me; Saint Anton's well sall be my drink; Since my true love's forsaken me. Martinmas wind, when wilt thou blaw, And shake the green leaves off the tree? O gentle death, when wilt thou come? For of my life I am wearie.

'Tis not the frost that freezes fell, Nor blawing snaw's inclemencie, 'Tis not sic cauld that makes me cry; But my love's heart grown cauld to me. When we cam' in by Glasgow toun, We were a comely sicht to see; My love was clad in the black velvet, An' I mysel' in cramasie.

But had I wist before I kissed That love had been so ill to win, I 'd locked my heart in a case o' goud, And pinn'd it wi' a siller pin. Oh, oh! if my young babe were born, And set upon the nurse's knee; And I mysel' were dead and gane, And the green grass growing over me!

ANONYMOUS.

LADY ANN BOTHWELL'S LAMENT.

A SCOTTISH SONG.

Balow, my babe, ly stil and sleipe! It grieves me sair to see thee weipe; If thoust be silent, Ise be glad, Thy maining maks my heart ful sad. Balow, my boy, thy mither's joy! Thy father breides me great annoy. _Balow, my 'babe, ly stil and sleipe! It grieves me sair to see thee weipe._

When he began to court my luve, And with his sugred words to muve, His faynings fals and flattering cheire To me that time did not appeire: But now I see, most cruell hee, Cares neither for my babe nor mee. _Balow_, etc.

Ly stil, my darlinge, sleipe awhile, And when thou wakest sweitly smile: But smile not, as thy father did, To cozen maids; nay, God forbid! But yette I feire, thou wilt gae neire, Thy fatheris hart and face to beire. _Balow_, etc.

I cannae chuse, but ever will Be luving to thy father stil: Whaireir he gae, whaireir he ryde, My luve with him maun stil abyde: In weil or wae, whaireir he gae, Mine hart can neir depart him frae. _Balow_, etc.

But doe not, doe not, prettie mine, To faynings fals thine hart incline; Be loyal to thy luver trew, And nevir change hir for a new; If gude or faire, of hir have care, For womens banning's wonderous sair. _Balow_, etc.

Bairne, sin thy cruel father is gane, Thy winsome smiles maun eise my paine; My babe and I 'll together live, He'll comfort me when cares doe grieve; My babe and I right saft will ly, And quite forgeit man's cruelty. _Balow_, etc.

Fareweil, fareweil, thou falsest youth That ever kist a woman's mouth! I wish all maids be warned by mee, Nevir to trust man's curtesy; For if we doe but chance to bow, They'll use us then they care not how. _Balow, my 'babe, ly stil and sleipe! It grieves me sair to see thee weipe._

ANONYMOUS.

MY HEID IS LIKE TO REND, WILLIE.

My heid is like to rend, Willie, My heart is like to break; I'm wearin' aff my feet, Willie, I'm dyin' for your sake! O, say ye'll think on me, Willie, Your hand on my briest-bane,-- O, say ye'll think of me, Willie, When I am deid and gane!

It's vain to comfort me, Willie, Sair grief maun ha'e its will; But let me rest upon your briest To sab and greet my fill. Let me sit on your knee, Willie, Let me shed by your hair, And look into the face, Willie, I never sall see mair!

I'm sittin' on your knee, Willie, For the last time in my life,-- A puir heart-broken thing, Willie, A mither, yet nae wife. Ay, press your hand upon my heart, And press it mair and mair, Or it will burst the silken twine, Sae strang is its despair.

O, wae's me for the hour, Willie, When we thegither met,-- O, wae's me for the time, Willie, That our first tryst was set! O, wae's me for the loanin' green Where we were wont to gae,-- And wae's me for the destinie That gart me luve thee sae!

O, dinna mind my words, Willie, I downa seek to blame; But O, it's hard to live, Willie, And dree a warld's shame! Het tears are hailin' ower our cheek, And hailin' ower your chin: Why weep ye sae for worthlessness, For sorrow, and for sin?

I'm weary o' this warld, Willie, And sick wi' a' I see, I canna live as I ha'e lived, Or be as I should be. But fauld unto your heart, Willie, The heart that still is thine, And kiss ance mair the white, white cheek Ye said was red langsyne.

A stoun' gaes through my heid, Willie, A sair stoun' through my heart; O, haud me up and let me kiss Thy brow ere we twa pairt. Anither, and anither yet!-- How fast my life-strings break!-- Fareweel! fareweel! through yon kirk-yard Step lichtly for my sake!

The lav'rock in the lift, Willie, That lifts far ower our heid, Will sing the morn as merrilie Abune the clay-cauld deid; And this green turf we're sittin' on, Wi' dew-draps shimmerin' sheen, Will hap the heart that luvit thee As warld has seldom seen.

But O, remember me, Willie, On land where'er ye be; And O, think on the leal, leal heart, That ne'er luvit ane but thee! And O, think on the cauld, cauld mools That file my yellow hair, That kiss the cheek, and kiss the chin Ye never sall kiss mair!

WILLIAM MOTHERWELL.

ASHES OF ROSES.

Soft on the sunset sky Bright daylight closes, Leaving, when light doth die, Pale hues that mingling lie,-- Ashes of roses.

When love's warm sun is set, Love's brightness closes; Eyes with hot tears are wet, In hearts there linger yet Ashes of roses.

ELAINE GOODALE EASTMAN.

A WOMAN'S LOVE.

A sentinel angel, sitting high in glory, Heard this shrill wail ring out from Purgatory: "Have mercy, mighty angel, hear my story!

"I loved,--and, blind with passionate love, I fell. Love brought me down to death, and death to Hell; For God is just, and death for sin is well.

"I do not rage against his high decree, Nor for myself do ask that grace shall be; But for my love on earth who mourns for me.

"Great Spirit! Let me see my love again And comfort him one hour, and I were fain To pay a thousand years of fire and pain."

Then said the pitying angel, "Nay, repent That wild vow! Look, the dial-finger's bent Down to the last hour of thy punishment!"

But still she wailed, "I pray thee, let me go! I cannot rise to peace and leave him so. O, let me soothe him in his bitter woe!"

The brazen gates ground sullenly ajar, And upwards, joyous, like a rising star, She rose and vanished in the ether far.

But soon adown the dying sunset sailing, And like a wounded bird her pinions trailing, She fluttered back, with broken-hearted wailing.

She sobbed, "I found him by the summer sea Reclined, his head upon a maiden's knee,-- She curled his hair and kissed him. Woe is me!"

She wept, "Now let my punishment begin! I have been fond and foolish. Let me in To expiate my sorrow and my sin."

The angel answered, "Nay, sad soul, go higher! To be deceived in your true heart's desire Was bitterer than a thousand years of fire!"

JOHN HAY.

THE SHADOW ROSE.

A noisette on my garden path An ever-swaying shadow throws; But if I pluck it strolling by, I pluck the shadow with the rose.

Just near enough my heart you stood To shadow it,--but was it fair In him, who plucked and bore you off, To leave your shadow lingering there?

ROBERT CAMERON ROGERS.

HAS SUMMER COME WITHOUT THE ROSE?

Has summer come without the rose, Or left the bird behind? Is the blue changed above thee, O world! or am I blind? Will you change every flower that grows, Or only change this spot, Where she who said, I love thee, Now says, I love thee not?

The skies seemed true above thee, The rose true on the tree; The bird seemed true the summer through, But all proved false to me. World, is there one good thing in you, Life, love, or death--or what? Since lips that sang, I love thee, Have said, I love thee not?

I think the sun's kiss will scarce fall Into one flower's gold cup; I think the bird will miss me, And give the summer up. O sweet place, desolate in tall Wild grass, have you forgot How her lips loved to kiss me, Now that they kiss me not?

Be false or fair above me; Come back with any face, Summer!--do I care what you do? You cannot change one place,-- The grass, the leaves, the earth, the dew, The grave I make the spot,-- Here, where she used to love me, Here, where she loves me not.

ARTHUR O'SHAUGHNESSY.

THE DIRTY OLD MAN.

A LAY OF LEADENHALL.

[A singular man, named Nathaniel Bentley, for many years kept a large hardware-shop in Leadenhall Street, London. He was best know as Dirty Dick (Dick, for alliteration's sake, probably), and his place of business as the Dirty Warehouse. He died about the year 1809. These verses accord with the accounts respecting himself and his house.]

In a dirty old house lived a Dirty Old Man; Soap, towels, or brushes were not in his plan. For forty long years, as the neighbors declared, His house never once had been cleaned or repaired.

'T was a scandal and shame to the business-like street, One terrible blot in a ledger so neat: The shop full of hardware, but black as a hearse, And the rest of the mansion a thousand times worse.

Outside, the old plaster, all spatter and stain, Looked spotty in sunshine and streaky in rain; The window-sills sprouted with mildewy grass, And the panes from being broken were known to be glass.

On the rickety sign-board no learning could spell The merchant who sold, or the goods he'd to sell; But for house and for man a new title took growth, Like a fungus,--the Dirt gave its name to them both.

Within, there were carpets and cushions of dust, The wood was half rot, and the metal half rust. Old curtains, half cobwebs, hung grimly aloof; 'T was a Spiders' Elysium from cellar to roof.

There, king of the spiders, the Dirty Old Man Lives busy and dirty as ever he can; With dirt on his fingers and dirt on his face, For the Dirty Old Man thinks the dirt no disgrace.

From his wig to his shoes, from his coat to his shirt, His clothes are a proverb, a marvel of dirt; The dirt is pervading, unfading, exceeding,-- Yet the Dirty Old Man has both learning and breeding.

Fine dames from their carriages, noble and fair, Have entered his shop, less to buy than to stare; And have afterwards said, though the dirt was so frightful, The Dirty Man's manners were truly delightful.

Upstairs might they venture, in dirt and in gloom, To peep at the door of the wonderful room Such stories are told about, none of them true!-- The keyhole itself has no mortal seen through.

That room,--forty years since, folk settled and decked it. The luncheon's prepared, and the guests are expected, The handsome young host he is gallant and gay, For his love and her friends will be with him today.

With solid and dainty the table is drest, The wine beams its brightest, the flowers bloom their best; Yet the host need not smile, and no guests will appear, For his sweetheart is dead, as he shortly shall hear.

Full forty years since turned the key in that door. 'T is a room deaf and dumb mid the city's uproar. The guests, for whose joyance that table was spread, May now enter as ghosts, for they're every one dead.

Through a chink in the shutter dim lights come and go; The seats are in order, the dishes a-row: But the luncheon was wealth to the rat and the mouse Whose descendants have long left the Dirty Old House.

Cup and platter are masked in thick layers of dust; The flowers fallen to powder, the wine swathed in crust; A nosegay was laid before one special chair, And the faded blue ribbon that bound it lies there.

The old man has played out his part in the scene. Wherever he now is, I hope he's more clean. Yet give we a thought free of scoffing or ban To that Dirty Old House and that Dirty Old Man.

WILLIAM ALLINGHAM.

HOME, WOUNDED.

Wheel me into the sunshine, Wheel me into the shadow. There must be leaves on the woodbine, Is the kingcup crowned in the meadow?

Wheel me down to the meadow, Down to the little river, In sun or in shadow I shall not dazzle or shiver, I shall be happy anywhere, Every breath of the morning air Makes me throb and quiver.

Stay wherever you will, By the mount or under the hill, Or down by the little river: Stay as long as you please, Give me only a bud from the trees, Or a blade of grass in morning dew, Or a cloudy violet clearing to blue, I could look on it forever.

Wheel, wheel through the sunshine, Wheel, wheel through the shadow; There must be odors round the pine, There must be balm of breathing kine, Somewhere down in the meadow. Must I choose? Then anchor me there Beyond the beckoning poplars, where The larch is snooding her flowery hair With wreaths of morning shadow.

Among the thickest hazels of the brake Perchance some nightingale doth shake His feathers, and the air is full of song; In those old days when I was young and strong, He used to sing on yonder garden tree, Beside the nursery. Ah, I remember how I loved to wake, And find him singing on the self-same bough (I know it even now) Where, since the flit of bat, In ceaseless voice he sat, Trying the spring night over, like a tune, Beneath the vernal moon; And while I listed long, Day rose, and still he sang, And all his stanchless song, As something falling unaware, Fell out of the tall trees he sang among, Fell ringing down the ringing morn, and rang,-- Rang like a golden jewel down a golden stair.

* * * * *

My soul lies out like a basking hound,-- A hound that dreams and dozes; Along my life my length I lay, I fill to-morrow and yesterday, I am warm with the suns that have long since set, I am warm with the summers that are not yet, And like one who dreams and dozes Softly afloat on a sunny sea, Two worlds are whispering over me, And there blows a wind of roses From the backward shore to the shore before, From the shore before to the backward shore, And like two clouds that meet and pour Each through each, till core in core A single self reposes, The nevermore with the evermore Above me mingles and closes; As my soul lies out like the basking hound, And wherever it lies seems happy ground, And when, awakened by some sweet sound, A dreamy eye uncloses, I see a blooming world around, And I lie amid primroses,--Years of sweet primroses, Springs of fresh primroses, Springs to be, and springs for me Of distant dim primroses.

O, to lie a-dream, a-dream, To feel I may dream and to know you deem My work is done forever, And the palpitating fever, That gains and loses, loses and gains, And beats the hurrying blood on the brunt of a thousand pains, Cooled at once by that blood-let Upon the parapet; And all the tedious taskèd toil of the difficult long endeavor Solved and quit by no more fine Than these limbs of mine, Spanned and measured once for all By that right-hand I lost, Bought up at so light a cost As one bloody fall On the soldier's bed, And three days on the ruined wall Among the thirstless dead.

O, to think my name is crost From duty's muster-roll; That I may slumber though the clarion call, And live the joy of an embodied soul Free as a liberated ghost. O, to feel a life of deed Was emptied out to feed That fire of pain that burned so brief awhile,-- That fire from which I come, as the dead come Forth from the irreparable tomb, Or as a martyr on his funeral pile Heaps up the burdens other men do bear Through years of segregated care, And takes the total load Upon his shoulders broad, And steps from earth to God.

O, to think, through good or ill, Whatever I am you'll love me still; O, to think, though dull I be, You that are so grand and free, You that are so bright and gay, Will pause to hear me when I will, As though my head were gray; A single self reposes, The nevermore with the evermore Above me mingles and closes; As my soul lies out like the basking hound, And wherever it lies seems happy ground, And when, awakened by some sweet sound, A dreamy eye uncloses, I see a blooming world around, And I lie amid primroses,-- Years of sweet primroses, Springs of fresh primroses. Springs to be, and springs for me Of distant dim primroses.

O, to lie a-dream, a-dream, To feel I may dream and to know you deem My work is done forever, And the palpitating fever, That gains and loses, loses and gains, And she, Perhaps, O even she May look as she looked when I knew her In those old days of childish sooth, Ere my boyhood dared to woo her. I will not seek nor sue her, For I'm neither fonder nor truer Than when she slighted my lovelorn youth, My giftless, graceless, guinealess truth, And I only lived to rue her. But I'll never love another, And, in spite of her lovers and lands, She shall love me yet, my brother!

As a child that holds by his mother, While his mother speaks his praises, Holds with eager hands, And ruddy and silent stands In the ruddy and silent daisies, And hears her bless her boy, And lifts a wondering joy, So I'll not seek nor sue her, But I'll leave my glory to woo her, And I'll stand like a child beside, And from behind the purple pride I'll lift my eyes unto her, And I shall not be denied. And you will love her, brother dear, And perhaps next year you'll bring me here All through the balmy April tide, And she will trip like spring by my side, And be all the birds to my ear.

And here all three we'll sit in the sun, And see the Aprils one by one, Primrosed Aprils on and on, Till the floating prospect closes In golden glimmers that rise and rise, And perhaps are gleams of Paradise, And perhaps too far for mortal eyes, New springs of fresh primroses, Springs of earth's primroses, Springs to be, and springs for me Of distant dim primroses.

SYDNEY DOBELL.

DIVIDED.

I.

An empty sky, a world of heather, Purple of foxglove, yellow of broom: We two among them wading together, Shaking out honey, treading perfume.

Crowds of bees are giddy with clover, Crowds of grasshoppers skip at our feet: Crowds of larks at their matins hang over, Thanking the Lord for a life so sweet.

Flusheth the rise with her purple favor, Gloweth the cleft with her golden ring, 'Twixt the two brown butterflies waver, Lightly settle, and sleepily swing.

We two walk till the purple dieth, And short dry grass under foot is brown, But one little streak at a distance lieth Green, like a ribbon, to prank the down.

II.

Over the grass we stepped unto it, And God, He knoweth how blithe we were! Never a voice to bid us eschew it; Hey the green ribbon that showed so fair!

Hey the green ribbon! we kneeled beside it, We parted the grasses dewy and sheen: Drop over drop there filtered and slided A tiny bright beck that trickled between.

Tinkle, tinkle, sweetly it sung to us, Light was our talk as of faery bells-- Faery wedding-bells faintly rung to us, Down in their fortunate parallels.

Hand in hand, while the sun peered over, We lapped the grass on that youngling spring, Swept back its rushes, smoothed its clover, And said, "Let us follow it westering."

III.

A dappled sky, a world of meadows; Circling above us the black rooks fly, 'Forward, backward: lo, their dark shadows Flit on the blossoming tapestry--

Flit on the beck--for her long grass parteth, As hair from a maid's bright eyes blown back; And lo, the sun like a lover darteth His flattering smile on her wayward track.

Sing on! we sing in the glorious weather, Till one steps over the tiny strand, So narrow, in sooth, that still together On either brink we go hand in hand.

The beck grows wider, the hands must sever, On either margin, our songs all done, We move apart, while she singeth ever, Taking the course of the stooping sun.

He prays, "Come over"--I may not follow; I cry, "Return"--but he cannot come: We speak, we laugh, but with voices hollow; Our hands are hanging, our hearts are numb.

IV.

A breathing sigh--a sigh for answer; A little talking of outward things: The careless beck is a merry dancer, Keeping sweet time to the air she sings.

A little pain when the beck grows wider-- "Cross to me now, for her wavelets swell:" "I may not cross" and the voice beside her Faintly reacheth, though heeded well.

No backward path; ah! no returning: No second crossing that ripple's flow: "Come to me now, for the west is burning: Come ere it darkens."--"Ah, no! ah, no!"

Then cries of pain, and arms outreaching-- The beck grows wider and swift and deep; Passionate words as of one beseeching-- The loud beck drowns them: we walk and weep.

V.

A yellow moon in splendor drooping, A tired queen with her state oppressed, Low by rushes and sword-grass stooping, Lies she soft on the waves at rest.

The desert heavens have felt her sadness; Her earth will weep her some dewy tears; The wild beck ends her tune of gladness, And goeth stilly as soul that fears.

We two walk on in our grassy places, On either marge of the moonlit flood, With the moon's own sadness in our faces, Where joy is withered, blossom and bud.

VI.

A shady freshness, chafers whirring, A little piping of leaf-hid birds; A flutter of wings, a fitful stirring, A cloud to the eastward snowy as curds.

Bare grassy slopes, where the kids are tethered, Bound valleys like nests all ferny-lined; Round hills, with fluttering tree-tops feathered, Swell high in their freckled robes behind.

A rose-flush tender, a thrill, a quiver, When golden gleams to the tree-tops glide; A flashing edge for the milk-white river, The beck, a river--with still sleek tide.

Broad and white, and polished as silver, On she goes under fruit-laden trees; Sunk in leafage cooeth the culver, And 'plaineth of love's disloyalties.

Glitters the dew, and shines the river; Up comes the lily and dries her bell; But two are walking apart forever, And wave their hands for a mute farewell.

VII.

A braver swell, a swifter sliding; The river hasteth, her banks recede; Wing-like sails on her bosom gliding Bear down the lily, and drown the reed.

Stately prows are rising and bowing-- (Shouts of mariners winnow the air)-- And level sands for banks endowing The tiny green ribbon that showed so fair.

While, O my heart! as white sails shiver, And crowds are passing, and banks stretch wide, How hard to follow, with lips that quiver, That moving speck on the far-off side!

Farther, farther--I see it--know it-- My eyes brim over, it melts away: Only my heart to my heart shall show it, As I walk desolate day by day.

VIII.

And yet I know past all doubting, truly,-- A knowledge greater than grief can dim-- I know, as he loved, he will love me duly-- Yea, better--e'en better than I love him:

And as I walk by the vast calm river, The awful river so dread to see, I say, "Thy breadth and thy depth forever Are bridged by his thoughts that cross to me."

JEAN INGELOW.

TO DIANE DE POITIERS.

Farewell! since vain is all my care, Far, in some desert rude, I'll hide my weakness, my despair: And, 'midst my solitude, I'll pray, that, should another move thee, He may as fondly, truly love thee.

Adieu, bright eyes, that were my heaven! Adieu, soft cheek, where summer blooms! Adieu, fair form, earth's pattern given, Which Love inhabits and illumes! Your rays have fallen but coldly on me: One far less fond, perchance, had won ye!

From the French of CLEMENT MAROT. Translation of LOUISE STUART COSTELLO.

THE SPINNER.