 | Poems and Romances |  |
115
LADYBIRD'S WOOING.
Ladybird began to say,
“When my beauty shall decay,
Let me sit in rich array,
Though a throne be stuffed with care,
Roses for the golden hair,
Thorns but jewels also for the grey.”
“When my beauty shall decay,
Let me sit in rich array,
Though a throne be stuffed with care,
Roses for the golden hair,
Thorns but jewels also for the grey.”
Sing Love has been a rover,
But his holidays are over;
Where shall he go to school?
But his holidays are over;
Where shall he go to school?
Far and wide the princes heard
The complaint of Ladybird,
And the heart of them was stirred
To seek treasures of renown,
And a newer, brighter crown
For her brow, according to her word.
The complaint of Ladybird,
And the heart of them was stirred
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And a newer, brighter crown
For her brow, according to her word.
Sing Love has been a rover.
They were scattered like the foam,
And three only brought gifts home;
One a laurel wreath from Rome,
One a golden harp from Greece,
One from Ind a cup of peace,
To her palace of the pearly dome.
And three only brought gifts home;
One a laurel wreath from Rome,
One a golden harp from Greece,
One from Ind a cup of peace,
To her palace of the pearly dome.
Sing Love has been a rover.
Ladybird, still fancy-free,
Made a feast unto the three,
In her city by the sea,
And said, “Who will cleanse my eye
With the fire of Sinai?
He shall cast his mantle over me.”
Made a feast unto the three,
In her city by the sea,
And said, “Who will cleanse my eye
With the fire of Sinai?
He shall cast his mantle over me.”
Sing Love has been a rover.
Only one of three was bold,
Nor hath any minstrel told
How he bought what is not sold;
How he bare that living light,
To renew her fading sight
When both he and Ladybird were old.
Nor hath any minstrel told
How he bought what is not sold;
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To renew her fading sight
When both he and Ladybird were old.
Sing Love has been a rover.
“Oh, my love, will this suffice?”
“Though I burn and you are ice,
You have bought me with a price;
Will you have me wed you now,
Or for pity cool my brow
With one lily out of Paradise?”
“Though I burn and you are ice,
You have bought me with a price;
Will you have me wed you now,
Or for pity cool my brow
With one lily out of Paradise?”
Sing Love has been a rover.
Then he saw her great distress,
And he was not pitiless,
Only in the last caress
He said sadly, “If I wait,
Still I leave thee desolate.”
So he went alone in bitterness.
And he was not pitiless,
Only in the last caress
He said sadly, “If I wait,
Still I leave thee desolate.”
So he went alone in bitterness.
Sing Love has been a rover.
And the angels of the west
Wove the lilies of sweet rest
For a guerdon of his quest;
But his arms were very cold,
And they both were very old,
When she leapt to peace upon his breast.
Wove the lilies of sweet rest
For a guerdon of his quest;
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And they both were very old,
When she leapt to peace upon his breast.
Sing Love has been a rover,
But his holidays are over.
Love shall go to school with Death.
But his holidays are over.
Love shall go to school with Death.
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