University of Virginia Library

WORK AND WAIT

HUSBAND AND WIFE
H.
The sweet'ning fruit that fall shall bring
Is now a bud within its rind;
The nest the bird shall build in spring
Is now in moss and grass untwin'd;
The summer days will show us, hung
On boughs, the fruit and nest of young.
I waited on, through time and tide,
Till I could house you here, my bride.

W.
If wedlock bonds in heaven are bound,
Then what's our lot will all come round.

H.
My new-built house's brick-red side
A few years since was clay unfound;
My reeden roof, outslanting wide,
Was yet in seed, unsprung from ground.
And now no house on Woodcombe land
Is put much better out of hand
Than this, that I, through time and tide,
Was bent to build for you to guide.

W.
I'll try with heart, and hand, and head,
That you shall speed as you have sped.

H.
A few years since my wheels, unmade,
Were living timber, under bark,
And my new ploughshare's grey-blue blade
Was ore deep lying in the dark;
But now I have my gear, and now
Have bought two mares to haul or plough.
I waited on, in careful mood,
For stock to win our livelihood.

W.
Aye ‘work and wait's’ the wisest way,
For ‘work and wait’ will win the day.