"O lady, he is dead and gone! 'Within these holy cloisters long 6 They bore him barefaced on his bier And many a tear bedew'd his 'And art thou dead, thou gentle youth "Oh, weep not, lady, weep not so, 'Oh, do not, do not, holy friar, For I have lost the sweetest youth And now, alas! for thy sad loss I'll ever weep and sigh; For thee I only wish'd to live, For thee I wish to die.' "Weep no more, lady, weep no more, Thy sorrow is in vain ; For violets pluck'd, the sweetest shower Will ne'er make grow again. 'Our joys as wingèd dreams do fly, "Oh, say not so, thou holy friar, I pray thee say not so; For since my true-love died for me, 'Tis meet my tears should flow. "And will he never come again? Will he ne'er come again? Ah! no, he is dead and laid in his grave, 'His cheek was redder than the rose; But he is dead and laid in his grave: 'Sigh no more, lady, sigh no more; 'Hadst thou been fond, he had been false, And left thee sad and heavy; For young men ever were fickle found, 'Now say not so, thou holy friar, My love he had the truest heart, Oh, he was ever true! 'And art thou dead, thou much lov'd youth, And didst thou die for me? Then farewell, home; for evermore A pilgrim I will be. 'But first upon my true-love's grave And thrice I'll kiss the green-grass turf 'Yet stay, fair lady, rest a while See, through the thorn blows cold the wind 'Oh, stay me not, thou holy friar ; 'Yet stay, fair lady, turn again, 'Here, forced by grief and hopeless love, And here amid these lonely walls To end my days I thought. 'But haply, for my year of Is not yet pass'd away, grace Might I still hope to win thy love, 'Now farewell grief, and welcome joy For since I have found thee, lovely youth, THE INCHCAPE ROCK ROBERT SOUTHEY No stir in the air, no stir in the sea, Her keel was steady in the ocean. Without either sign or sound of their shock The worthy Abbot of Aberbrothock When the Rock was hid by the surge's swell, The Sun in heaven was shining gay, The buoy of the Inchcape Bell was seen, He felt the cheering power of spring, His eye was on the Inchcape float; And I'll plague the Abbot of Aberbrothock.' The boat is lower'd, the boatmen row, And he cut the Bell from the Inchcape float. Down sank the Bell with a gurgling sound, Quoth Sir Ralph, 'The next who comes to the Rock Won't bless the Abbot of Aberbrothock.' Sir Ralph the Rover sail'd away, He scour❜d the seas for many a day; So thick a haze o'erspreads the sky On deck the Rover takes his stand, 'Canst hear,' said one, 'the breakers roar? But I wish I could hear the Inchcape Bell.' They hear no sound, the swell is strong; Sir Ralph the Rover tore his hair; THE WELL OF ST. KEYNE A WELL there is in the west country, But has heard of the Well of St. Keyne. |