 | Lyrical Poems |  |
241
STUDENT'S VACATION SONG.
Dear Thomas, I'm told
You're a student full bold,
And your looks the pale reader betray, my boy!
But I'm come now to call you,
Ere worse shall befall you,
To fling away books, and go play, my boy!
You're a student full bold,
And your looks the pale reader betray, my boy!
But I'm come now to call you,
Ere worse shall befall you,
To fling away books, and go play, my boy!
A dull, plodding youth,
A few grains of dry truth
May pick in this marrowless way, my boy!
But fresh feeling may never
Flow out, like a river,
From the parchment, so bloodless and grey, my boy!
A few grains of dry truth
May pick in this marrowless way, my boy!
But fresh feeling may never
Flow out, like a river,
From the parchment, so bloodless and grey, my boy!
242
Think you the old bard,
You are spelling so hard,
Found his lusty, fresh song in this way, my boy?
O no! his blithe spirit
Strong joy did inherit
From life, like the bird in the May, my boy!
You are spelling so hard,
Found his lusty, fresh song in this way, my boy?
O no! his blithe spirit
Strong joy did inherit
From life, like the bird in the May, my boy!
The truth must be told,
You'll soon lie 'neath the mould,
If you don't give your body fair play, my boy!
What boots all your yearning
For old Heathen learning,
When you're down, with the worms, 'neath the clay, my boy!
You'll soon lie 'neath the mould,
If you don't give your body fair play, my boy!
What boots all your yearning
For old Heathen learning,
When you're down, with the worms, 'neath the clay, my boy!
I've a house on the hill,
With a loch and a rill,
Where the troutlings still glancingly play, my boy!
Come with me to Yarrow
And fish away sorrow,
Through the length of the bright summer day, my boy!
With a loch and a rill,
Where the troutlings still glancingly play, my boy!
Come with me to Yarrow
And fish away sorrow,
Through the length of the bright summer day, my boy!
| Lyrical Poems | |