RIDDLES WISELY EXPOUNDED—D
[_]
Motherwell's MS., p. 142.
1
‘O what is higher than the trees?
Gar lay the bent to the bonny broom
And what is deeper than the seas?
And you may beguile a fair maid soon
2
‘O what is whiter than the milk?
Or what is softer than the silk?
3
‘O what is sharper than the thorn?
O what is louder than the horn?
4
‘O what is longer than the way?
And what is colder than the clay?
5
‘O what is greener than the grass?
And what is worse than woman was?’
6
‘O heaven's higher than the trees,
And hell is deeper than the seas.
7
‘And snow is whiter than the milk,
And love is softer than the silk.
8
‘O hunger's sharper than the thorn,
And thunder's louder than the horn.
9
‘O wind is longer than the way,
And death is colder than the clay.
10
‘O poison's greener than the grass,
And the Devil's worse than eer woman was.’
