Songs, Ballads, and Other Poems by the late Thomas Haynes Bayly; Edited by his Widow. With A Memoir of the Author. In Two Volumes |
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THE GIPSIES' HAUNT. |
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 | Songs, Ballads, and Other Poems |  |
THE GIPSIES' HAUNT.
I
Why curls the blue smoke o'er the trees?What words are borne upon the breeze?
Some cottage in yon lonely glen
Lies nestled from the eyes of men.
Unconsciously we've wandered near
Some rural play-place, for I hear
The sound in which my heart rejoices;
The melody of infant voices.
II
Alas! in that green nook we see,No dwelling-place of industry;
No dame, intent on household cares,
The neat, but frugal meal prepares;
No sire his labour o'er, will come
To brighten and to share her home;
No children from their mother learn
An honest way their bread to earn.
III
The gipsies, wild and wandering race,Are masters of the sylvan chase;
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Upon the turf their faggots blaze:
In coarse profusion they prepare
The feast, obtain'd,—how, when, and where?
While swarthy forms, with clamour loud,
Around the smoking cauldron crowd.
IV
Forth trips a laughing dark-eyed lassTo interrupt us as we pass;
Upon your right hand let her look,
And there she will read, as in a book,
Your future fortune, and reveal
The joy or woe you're doom'd to feel.
Your course of love she will unfold,
If you the picture dare behold!
| Songs, Ballads, and Other Poems | |