 | Rhymes with reason and without |  |
103
A SPRITELY REVENGE.
Tender-hearted, list my ditty!
Hear the tale of love I tell,
Tune your harps to notes of pity,
Let your sighs responsive swell.
Hear the tale of love I tell,
Tune your harps to notes of pity,
Let your sighs responsive swell.
Polly Ann Matilda Wiggins,—
O, so bright and fair was she!—
Lovéd Hezekiah Higgins,
And was loved as well by he.
O, so bright and fair was she!—
Lovéd Hezekiah Higgins,
And was loved as well by he.
Naught but love, though, were they rich in,—
Pewter lent their lives no charm,—
Polly toiléd in a kitchen,
Hezekiah tilled a farm.
Pewter lent their lives no charm,—
Polly toiléd in a kitchen,
Hezekiah tilled a farm.
Now awaked the golden fever,
Hezekiah took it bad;
Polly begged he would n't leave her,
But the money must be had.
Hezekiah took it bad;
Polly begged he would n't leave her,
But the money must be had.
Matrimony waited on it—
Neck or nothing—death or life—
And he vowed, by Polly's bonnet,
Fortune gained, he'd make her wife.
Neck or nothing—death or life—
And he vowed, by Polly's bonnet,
Fortune gained, he'd make her wife.
104
Praying, sighing, kissing, crying,
Hezekiah bade good-by;
Polly stood her tears a-drying,
With her apron to her eye.
Hezekiah bade good-by;
Polly stood her tears a-drying,
With her apron to her eye.
Time rolled by, and, sad and lonely,
Tender Polly wept and prayed,
Got one little letter only,
For which forty cents she paid.
Tender Polly wept and prayed,
Got one little letter only,
For which forty cents she paid.
Disconsolate she grew and badly,
Vainly sighing for relief;
Then, by marrying Jim Hadley,
Flung herself away, in grief.
Vainly sighing for relief;
Then, by marrying Jim Hadley,
Flung herself away, in grief.
Hezekiah at the “diggins”
Took his pick and worked away,
Dreamed all night of Polly Wiggins,
Thought of Polly all the day.
Took his pick and worked away,
Dreamed all night of Polly Wiggins,
Thought of Polly all the day.
But the fever went and took him,
As it many has beside,
And at last his breath forsook him,—
So, in consequence, he died.
As it many has beside,
And at last his breath forsook him,—
So, in consequence, he died.
And his spirit, homeward turning,—
Little cost to it, I ween,—
Straightway went where, love's flame burning,
Polly Wiggins last he 'd seen.
Little cost to it, I ween,—
Straightway went where, love's flame burning,
Polly Wiggins last he 'd seen.
105
Sad, poor ghost, the way he found her!
Tears his ghostly eyes bedim;
Hadley had his arm around her—
She was smiling “sweet” on Jim.
Tears his ghostly eyes bedim;
Hadley had his arm around her—
She was smiling “sweet” on Jim.
Sorrow then gave way to anger,
Knocked he with his spectral fist,
Till they started with the clangor,
And their spirits quaked to list.
Knocked he with his spectral fist,
Till they started with the clangor,
And their spirits quaked to list.
Knocked he then, and tipped the table;
Polly ran and screamed for fear,
Hadley cut as fast as able,
Those unearthly knocks to hear.
Polly ran and screamed for fear,
Hadley cut as fast as able,
Those unearthly knocks to hear.
Hadley cut and Polly wilted,—
Well she knew the sounds of dread;
And the ghost of him she jilted
Was most fully aveng-ed.
Well she knew the sounds of dread;
And the ghost of him she jilted
Was most fully aveng-ed.
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