The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan In Two Volumes. With a Portrait |
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THE TRAMP'S DITTY.
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 | The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan |  |
THE TRAMP'S DITTY.
I.
Out there in the greenwood beneath a green willow,Or under a haystack, my lodging shall be, O!
The sky for a curtain, the earth for a pillow,
The life of a Tramp is the life that suits me, O!
Sing derry down derry,
It's glad and it's merry! . . .
Thro' the haze of the heat
Cattle low, lambkins bleat,
While (tweet a tweet tweet!)
The birds whistle sweet,
And I lie on my back, right contented and free, O!
Sing derry down derry,
The life is so merry!
The life of a Tramp,
Be it dry, be it damp,
Is a life for a King, and the right life for me, O!
II.
Would I eat? there's a spread in the turnipfield ready!Would I drink? there's the cow standing under a tree, O!
Would I change with a lord? I'm not quite such a neddy!
No, wealth and fine raiment are fiddlede-dee, O!
Sing derry down derry,
This life is most merry!
When it rains, let it rain!
In the wood or the lane,
Snugly sheltered I lie
Till the shower passes by,—
With patter of pearls on the daisy-deckt lea, O!
Then, derry down derry,
The sun shines out merry,—
And the heart of the Tramp,
Be he rogue, be he scamp,
Leaps and laughs in the light, like a wave of the Sea, O!
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III.
And sometimes a-milking comes sun-freckled Molly,And after palaver sits down on my knee, O!
And I envy no lordling his finely drest dolly,
When kisses like those can be mine, with no fee, O!
Thro' the haze of the heat
Cattle low, lambkins bleat,
And the birds sing so sweet
While we kiss (tweet a tweet!),
And the King and the Queen of the Meadows are we, O!
Sing derry down derry,
The life is so merry,—
The life of a Tramp
Beats the Court and the Camp,
Be it day, be it night, 'tis the life that suits me, O!
| The Complete Poetical Works of Robert Buchanan | |