The Poetical Works of Ebenezer Elliott Edited by his Son Edwin Elliott ... A New and Revised Edition: Two Volumes |
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 | The Poetical Works of Ebenezer Elliott |  |
126
HE WENT.
He left me sad, and cross'd the deep,
A home for me to seek;
He never will come back again;
My heart, my heart will break!
To see me toil for scanty food,
He could not bear, he said,
But promised to come back again,
His faithful Ann to wed.
A home for me to seek;
He never will come back again;
My heart, my heart will break!
To see me toil for scanty food,
He could not bear, he said,
But promised to come back again,
His faithful Ann to wed.
Bad men had turn'd into a hell
The country of his birth;
And he is gone who should have stay'd
To make it heaven on earth:
A heaven to me it would have been
Had he remain'd with me;
O bring my William back again,
Thou wild heart-breaking sea!
The country of his birth;
And he is gone who should have stay'd
To make it heaven on earth:
A heaven to me it would have been
Had he remain'd with me;
O bring my William back again,
Thou wild heart-breaking sea!
He should have stay'd to overthrow
The men who do us wrong;
When such as he fly far away,
They make oppressors strong:
But, oh, though worlds of cruel waves
Between our torn hearts rise,
My William, thou art present still
Before my weeping eyes.
The men who do us wrong;
When such as he fly far away,
They make oppressors strong:
127
Between our torn hearts rise,
My William, thou art present still
Before my weeping eyes.
Why hast thou sought a foreign land,
And left me here to weep?
Man! man! thou should'st have sent our foes
Beyond that dismal deep!
For when I die, who then will toil,
My mother's life to save?
What hope will then remain for her?
A trampled workhouse grave!
And left me here to weep?
Man! man! thou should'st have sent our foes
Beyond that dismal deep!
For when I die, who then will toil,
My mother's life to save?
What hope will then remain for her?
A trampled workhouse grave!
| The Poetical Works of Ebenezer Elliott | |