 | Young Maids & Old China |  |
GOLDEN APPLES.
Is this the famous apple-tree
That bore the fruit of gold?
Where can the dreadful Dragon be
That used the place to hold?
That bore the fruit of gold?
Where can the dreadful Dragon be
That used the place to hold?
Someone slew the dragon;
And now, it seems, 'tis held
By the prettiest little maiden
That ever you beheld.
And now, it seems, 'tis held
By the prettiest little maiden
That ever you beheld.
The grim and grisly dragon
Let none come near the tree;
This maiden smiles you welcome,
And gives her apples free.
Let none come near the tree;
This maiden smiles you welcome,
And gives her apples free.
And those who eat her apples
Forget their grief and pain;
And the joys of happy childhood
Spring in their hearts again.
Forget their grief and pain;
And the joys of happy childhood
Spring in their hearts again.
Would you not gladly wander,
Like those of old, to find
An apple-tree so bountiful,
Kept by a maid so kind?
Like those of old, to find
An apple-tree so bountiful,
Kept by a maid so kind?
Alas! though slain the dragon be,
No less the fruit is banned;
For vanished is that golden tree,
It grows in Fairy-land.
No less the fruit is banned;
For vanished is that golden tree,
It grows in Fairy-land.
| Young Maids & Old China | |