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KATHIE MORRIS.
AN IDYL.
1.
Ah! fine it was that April time, when gentle winds were blowing,To hunt for pale arbutus-blooms that hide beneath the leaves,
To hear the slanting rain come down, and see the clover growing,
And watch the airy swallows as they darted round the eaves!
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2.
You wonder why I dream to-night of clover that was growingSo many years ago, my wife, when we were in our prime;
For, hark! the wind is in the flue, and Johnny says 'tis snowing,
And through the storm the clanging bells ring in the Christmas time.
3.
I cannot tell, but something sweet about my heart is clinging.A vision and a memory—'tis little that I mind
The weary wintry weather, for I hear the robins singing,
And the petals of the apple-blooms are ruffled in the wind!
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4.
It was a sunny morn in May, and in the fragrant meadowI lay, and dreamed of one fair face, as fair and fresh as spring:
Would Kathie Morris love me? then in sunshine and in shadow
I built up lofty castles on a golden wedding-ring!
5.
O, sweet it was to dream of her, the soldier's only daughter,The pretty pious Puritan, that flirted so with Will;
The music of her winsome mouth was like the laughing water
That broke in silvery syllables by Farmer Philip's mill.
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6.
And Will had gone away to sea; he did not leave her grieving;Her bonny heart was not for him, so reckless and so vain;
And Will turned out a buccaneer, and hanged was he for thieving
And scuttling helpless ships that sailed across the Spanish Main.
7.
And I had come to grief for her, the scornful village beauty,For, oh! she had a witty tongue could cut you like a knife;
She scorned me with her haughty eyes, and I, in bounden duty,
Did love her—loved her more for that, and wearied of my life!
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8.
And yet 'twas sweet to dream of her, to think her wavy tressesMight rest some happy, happy day, like sunshine, on my cheek;
The idle winds that fanned my brow I dreamed were her caresses,
And in the robin's twitterings I heard my sweetheart speak.
9.
And as I lay and thought of her, her fairy face adorningWith lover's fancies, treasuring the slightest word she'd said,
'Twas Kathie broke upon me like a blushing summer morning,
And a half-blown rosy clover reddened underneath her tread!
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10.
Then I looked up at Kathie, and her eyes were full of laughter:“O, Kathie, Kathie Morris, I am lying at your feet;
Bend above me, say you love me, that you'll love me ever after,
Or let me lie and die here, in the fragrant meadow-sweet!”
11.
And then I turned my face away, and trembled at my daring,For wildly, wildly had I spoke, with flashing cheek and eye;
And there was silence; I looked up, all pallid and despairing,
For fear she'd take me at my word, and leave me there to die.
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12.
The silken fringes of her eyes upon her cheeks were drooping,Her merciless white fingers tore a blushing bud apart;
Then, quick as lightning, Kathie came, and kneeling half and stooping,
She hid her bonny, bonny face against my beating heart.
13.
O, nestle, nestle, nestle there! the heart would give thee greeting;Lie thou there, all trustfully, in trouble and in pain;
This breast shall shield thee from the storm, and bear its bitter beating,
These arms shall hold thee tenderly in sunshine and in rain!
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14.
Old sexton! set your chimes in tune, and let there be no snarling,Ring out a joyous wedding-hymn to all the listening air;
And, girls, strew roses as she comes, the scornful, brown-eyed darling—
A princess, by the wavy gold and glistening of her hair!
15.
Hark! hear the bells. The Christmas bells? O, no; who set them ringing?I think I hear our bridal-bells, and I with joy am blind;
I smell the clover in the fields, I hear the robins singing.
And the petals of the apple-blooms are ruffled in the wind!
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16.
Ah! Kathie, you've been true to me in fair and cloudy weather;Our Father has been good to us when we've been sorely tried:
I pray to God, when we must die, that we may die together,
And slumber softly underneath the clover, side by side.
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