Historical & Legendary Ballads & Songs By Walter Thornbury. Illustrated by J. Whistler, F. Walker, John Tenniel, J. D. Watson, W. Small, F. Sandys, G. J. Pinwell, T. Morten, M. J. Lawless, and many others |
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The Gamekeeper.
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 | Historical & Legendary Ballads & Songs |  |
The Gamekeeper.
Firs that are the squirrels' ladders;
Dog-wood berries bunching red;
Large-leafed hazels' lissom switches;
Golden moss, the violets' bed—
Past them all, and by the fern-tufts
Came the keeper, twisting snares;
Gay were the trout-flies in his hat,
And at his back there swung two hares.
Dog-wood berries bunching red;
Large-leafed hazels' lissom switches;
Golden moss, the violets' bed—
203
Came the keeper, twisting snares;
Gay were the trout-flies in his hat,
And at his back there swung two hares.
204
He leaped quick over the old notched stile,
Singing a ditty of Dorsetshire;
Then rested his gun on a fir-tree spoke,
And sat down twisting the treacherous wire.—
As he thought of the cottage hid in the wood,—
A grim face watched him from under the fern;
That soft low whistle ne'er boded good,
But it did not make him listen nor turn.
Singing a ditty of Dorsetshire;
Then rested his gun on a fir-tree spoke,
And sat down twisting the treacherous wire.—
As he thought of the cottage hid in the wood,—
A grim face watched him from under the fern;
That soft low whistle ne'er boded good,
But it did not make him listen nor turn.
Where the blow-flies cluster, and crowd so thick,
Round the greenest centre of the copse;
Where the bindweed trails, and creeps, and hangs,
And where grow thickest the wild hops—
There lies, face downwards, a murdered man,
With a rusty gun close to his hand.—
He's torn with shot, and his fingers red
Still clutch the leaves and the trampled sand.
Round the greenest centre of the copse;
Where the bindweed trails, and creeps, and hangs,
And where grow thickest the wild hops—
There lies, face downwards, a murdered man,
With a rusty gun close to his hand.—
He's torn with shot, and his fingers red
Still clutch the leaves and the trampled sand.
| Historical & Legendary Ballads & Songs | |