 | Experiences |  |
42
THE SPINSTER'S LAMENT.
Where are now the gay lads gone
Who my partners were of yore?
At the dance I sit alone,
Once the lightest on the floor.
Who my partners were of yore?
At the dance I sit alone,
Once the lightest on the floor.
Chits I dandled on my knee
Fling me many a scornful glance,
Wonder withered girls like me
Show their faces at the dance.
Fling me many a scornful glance,
Wonder withered girls like me
Show their faces at the dance.
Where are all the gay lads gone
Who my partners were of old?
Many a one lies under stone,
Under stone, the night is cold.
Who my partners were of old?
Many a one lies under stone,
Under stone, the night is cold.
Saucy girls they pass me by,
Toss their top-knots and their curls,
Twenty lovers once had I,
So take warning by me, girls!
Toss their top-knots and their curls,
Twenty lovers once had I,
So take warning by me, girls!
Willie lies in Cloonagad,
Jack sleeps sound in Kilnaree,
Patrick was a coaxing lad;
Patrick's quiet under sea.
Jack sleeps sound in Kilnaree,
Patrick was a coaxing lad;
Patrick's quiet under sea.
Joe and Jim and Valentine,
All are gone the self-same path;
Play the music, pour the wine,
But the fiddler's name is Death.
All are gone the self-same path;
Play the music, pour the wine,
But the fiddler's name is Death.
43
Where are now the loves I lost—
Tim and Jerry, Bob and Dick?
At the dance I sit, a ghost,
Count the dead and not the quick;
Tim and Jerry, Bob and Dick?
At the dance I sit, a ghost,
Count the dead and not the quick;
Count the dancers who are gone,
Brown and black and golden head:
At the dance I sit alone,
Tell my rosary of the dead.
Brown and black and golden head:
At the dance I sit alone,
Tell my rosary of the dead.
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