 | Poems and Lancashire Songs |  |
62
LOVE AND GOLD.
I
We were but poor young people,My Margaret and I;
And well I knew she loved me,
Although her looks were shy:
But I longed to see strange countries,
That lie beyond the main;
And when I'd gathered riches,
Come flaunting home again.
II
When I parted from my true love,A rover's fate to try,
She was full of strange forebodings,
And tears were in her eye.
63
She gave to all my glee,
When I said, “I'll win some gold, love,
And bring it back to thee!”
III
But my heart was proudly beating,And I was in my prime,
So, in chase of golden treasure,
I went from clime to clime;
In giddy chase of pleasure,
Beyond the foaming sea,
All heedless of the maiden
Who pined at home for me.
IV
So I sought for gold, and won it,And still I wanted more,
And as my treasure gathered,
Was poorer than before:
64
It made me hard and cold;
It made me slight my true love—
That cursèd yellow gold!
V
But, in spite of all my riches,I was growing old and worn;
So I took a ship for England,
The place where I was born;
I took a ship for England,
With all my golden store,
To dazzle those that knew me
Full thirty years before.
VI
When I landed with my gold-bags,The friends of old were gone;
And, in spite of all my riches,
I felt myself alone.
65
I knew their hearts were cold;
And I sought in vain the true love,
That's never bought with gold.
VII
My skin was parched and yellow,My hair was thin and grey,
And she that loved me dearly,
Was sleeping in the clay.
She had long been in the churchyard,
Sleeping sweet and sound;—
And I was but an outcast
Upon the lonely ground.
VIII
Now to her grave I wander,And sit upon the stone,
Where all is still and silent,—
Except my lonely moan;
66
For I am ill and old;
And my gold will deck the mourners,
Who wish my body cold.
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