 | John Clare: The Midsummer Cushion |  |
342
BALLAD
[Give me lifes ease when my leafs turning yellow]
Give me lifes ease when my leafs turning yellow
Leave me no more of cares mountains to climb
Give me lifes calm when my fruits getting mellow
Let no rude winds blow to shorten my prime
Let my last pleasures be just as Ive thought 'em
Let death supprise me with no ruffian call
But soft as the leaves on the breezes of autumn
Let my bald head on its last pillow fall
Leave me no more of cares mountains to climb
Give me lifes calm when my fruits getting mellow
Let no rude winds blow to shorten my prime
Let my last pleasures be just as Ive thought 'em
Let death supprise me with no ruffian call
But soft as the leaves on the breezes of autumn
Let my bald head on its last pillow fall
Three score & ten be my last travels numbered
Three score & ten is the length I desire
Then with few pains & few struggles encumbered
Small would the blow be that death would require
Deaths labours light when by age life is wounded
& if the grave is unhaunted with pain
Long be the time ere the last trump is sounded
Long may I sleep ere I'm wakened again
Three score & ten is the length I desire
Then with few pains & few struggles encumbered
Small would the blow be that death would require
Deaths labours light when by age life is wounded
& if the grave is unhaunted with pain
Long be the time ere the last trump is sounded
Long may I sleep ere I'm wakened again
| John Clare: The Midsummer Cushion | |