 | Judith, Esther, and other poems |  |
BALLAD.
The wild winds sung the leaves among,
The grass-field seemed a sea,
The squirrel gray no more at play
Sought the low hazel tree.
The grass-field seemed a sea,
The squirrel gray no more at play
Sought the low hazel tree.
The hoarse cascade loud roarings made
And black ran the river below,
“Now, dearest maid,” her true love said,
“Fear'st thou with me to go?”
And black ran the river below,
“Now, dearest maid,” her true love said,
“Fear'st thou with me to go?”
‘No, Henry dear, I do not fear,
But the winds are growing loud,
And the setting sun casts lustre dun
Through many a clustering cloud,’
But the winds are growing loud,
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Through many a clustering cloud,’
“The woodman fells the oak and pine,
His sounding axe I hear,
Thy mantle is warm, if approaches the storm
His log-built cottage is near.
His sounding axe I hear,
Thy mantle is warm, if approaches the storm
His log-built cottage is near.
“Then let us fly to the cliff so high
And see the mad waters below,
In foamy flake as they seek the lake
As white as drifting snow.
And see the mad waters below,
In foamy flake as they seek the lake
As white as drifting snow.
“For still, to child of fancy wild
That loves the moanful lay,
An hour like this has more of bliss
Than renovating day.”
That loves the moanful lay,
An hour like this has more of bliss
Than renovating day.”
‘Yes, Henry dear, 'tis bliss to hear,
The storm that bends the tree,
When safely prest to faithful breast
That beats for only me.’
The storm that bends the tree,
When safely prest to faithful breast
That beats for only me.’
Fair shone her eye like cloudless sky
When midnight stars are bright,
And a brighter rose on her soft cheek glows
As they reach the rocky height.
When midnight stars are bright,
And a brighter rose on her soft cheek glows
As they reach the rocky height.
And from her young protector's arm
Her graceful hand she drew,
To bind her hair that long and fair
Fell from her bonnet blue.
Her graceful hand she drew,
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Fell from her bonnet blue.
Then, luckless moment! fatal chance!
Her foot the grass among
A ground-bird's nest unwary prest,
And aside she startled sprung.
Her foot the grass among
A ground-bird's nest unwary prest,
And aside she startled sprung.
Oh! treacherous, treacherous was the sod
That seemed so firm and fair!
Its stay of stone stern time had torn
And death was lurking there.
That seemed so firm and fair!
Its stay of stone stern time had torn
And death was lurking there.
The knotted grass and bramble root
Entwined in mazy wreath,
Suspended hold the mingling mould
But a fragment has faln beneath.
Entwined in mazy wreath,
Suspended hold the mingling mould
But a fragment has faln beneath.
Oh! treacherous, treacherous was the sod
That fell not with the stone!
Oh! Henry brave thou couldst not save
She's gone, forever gone!
That fell not with the stone!
Oh! Henry brave thou couldst not save
She's gone, forever gone!
And better he had never come
Who snatched thee from thy doom,
Ah! better far couldst thou with her
Thou lovedst have shared the tomb!
Who snatched thee from thy doom,
Ah! better far couldst thou with her
Thou lovedst have shared the tomb!
For oh! the thrill of that shriek so shrill
Mid the wild rocks echoing dread
Thy whirling brain could not sustain
And reason frighted fled.
Mid the wild rocks echoing dread
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And reason frighted fled.
Next morn a ploughboy shuddering crept
To the brink of that fatal height,
The winds were hushed and the torrent gushed
In the beams of morning bright.
To the brink of that fatal height,
The winds were hushed and the torrent gushed
In the beams of morning bright.
And where from earthy crevice grew
The bramble vine and thorn,
A ringlet fair of light brown hair
Shone sweetly in the sun.
The bramble vine and thorn,
A ringlet fair of light brown hair
Shone sweetly in the sun.
Unhappy maid, that vestige sad
Remained not long of thee;
But should the wild and playful child
But climb the neighbouring tree,
Remained not long of thee;
But should the wild and playful child
But climb the neighbouring tree,
There, shining through the down, he'll see
Plucked from the flutterer's breast,
Full many a thread that deckt thy head
By tender nestling prest.
Plucked from the flutterer's breast,
Full many a thread that deckt thy head
By tender nestling prest.
| Judith, Esther, and other poems | |