LAMENT OF THE IRISH EMIGRANT. Where we sat side by side And the lark sang loud and high; The place is little changed, Mary; And the corn is green again; "T is but a step down yonder lane, And the little church stands near, The church where we were wed, Mary; I see the spire from here. But the graveyard lies between, Mary, And my step might break your rest, For I've laid you, darling, down to sleep, With your baby on your breast. I'm very lonely now, Mary, For the poor make no new friends; Yours was the good, brave heart, Mary, That still kept hoping on, When the trust in God had left my soul, And my arm's young strength was gone; There was comfort ever on your lip, And the kind look on your brow, - I thank you for the patient smile If ever you should come to Modena, Where among other trophies may be seen Tassoni's bucket (in its chain it hangs (72) Within that reverend tower, the Guirlandina), Stop at a Palace near the Reggio-gate, Dwelt in of old by one of the Orsini. Its noble gardens, terrace above terrace, And rich in fountains, statues, cypresses, Will long detain you; but, before you go, Enter the house forget it not, I pray And look awhile upon a picture there. "T is of a Lady in her earliest youth, The last of that illustrious family; It haunts me still, though many a year has fled, Like some wild melody! Alone it hangs Over a mouldering heirloom, its companion, She was an only child, - her name Ginevra, Just as she looks there in her bridal dress, She was all gentleness, all gayety, Her pranks the favorite theme of every tongue. But now the day was come, the day, the hour; Now, frowning, smiling, for the hundredth time, The nurse, that ancient lady, preached decorum ; And, in the lustre of her youth, she gave Her hand, with her heart in it, to Francesco. Great was the joy; but at the Nuptial Feast, When all sate down, the Bride herself was wanting, Nor was she to be found! Her father cried, ""T is but to make a trial of our love!" And filled his glass to all; but his hand shook, And soon from guest to guest the panic spread. 'Twas but that instant she had left Francesco, Laughing and looking back, and flying still, Her ivory tooth imprinted on his finger. But now, alas, she was not to be found; Nor from that hour could anything be guessed, But that she was not! Weary of his life, Francesco flew to Venice, and, embarking, Flung it away in battle with the Turk. Done by Zampieri (73) - but by whom I care not. Orsini lived, — and long might you have seen He who observes it, ere he passes on, Gazes his fill, and comes and comes again, That he may call it up when far away. "I'm weary of dancing now," she cried; next day! And they sought her in vain when a week passed away! In the highest, the lowest, the loneliest spot, At length an oak chest, that had long lain hid, THOMAS HAYNES BAYLY. THE DISAPPOINTED LOVER. I WILL go back to the great sweet mother, Mother and lover of men, the sea. So that her high-born kinsmen came, And bore her away from me, To shut her up in a sepulchre, In this kingdom by the sea. The angels, not so happy in heaven, Went envying her and me. Yes! that was the reason (as all men know) In this kingdom by the sea, That the wind came out of the cloud by night, Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee. But our love it was stronger by far than the love Of those who were older than we, Of many far wiser than we; And neither the angels in heaven above, Nor the demons down under the sea, Can ever dissever my soul from the soul Of the beautiful Annabel Lee. See the white moon shines on high; Here, upon my true-love's grave With my hands I'll bind the briers Come, with acorn-cup and thorn, THOMAS CHATTERTON. THE DIRTY OLD MAN. MINSTREL'S SONG. O, SING unto my roundelay! O, drop the briny tear with me! Dance no more at holiday; Like a running river be. My love is dead, Gone to his death-bed, All under the willow-tree. Black his hair as the winter night, White his neck as the summer snow, Ruddy his face as the morning light; Cold he lies in the grave below. My love is dead, &c. Sweet his tongue as the throstle's note; Hark! the raven flaps his wing My love is dead, &c. A LAY OF LEADENHALL. [A singular man, named Nathaniel Bentley, for many years kept a large hardware shop in Leadenhall Street, London. He was best known as Dirty Dick (Dick, for alliteration's sake, probably). and his place of business as the Dirty Warehouse. He died about the year 1809. These verses accord with the accounts respecting himself and his house.] IN a dirty old house lived a Dirty Old Man; Soap, towels, or brushes were not in his plan. For forty long years, as the neighbors declared, His house never once had been cleaned or repaired. 'T was a scandal and shame to the business-like street, One terrible blot in a ledger so neat : Outside, the old plaster, all spatter and stain, Looked spotty in sunshine and streaky in rain; The window-sills sprouted with mildewy grass, And the panes from being broken were known to be glass. On the rickety signboard no learning could spell The merchant who sold, or the goods he'd to sell; both. But for house and for man a new title took growth, | A nosegay was laid before one special chair, Within, there were carpets and cushions of dust, There, king of the spiders, the Dirty Old Man From his wig to his shoes, from his coat to his shirt, Fine dames from their carriages, noble and fair, The Dirty Man's manners were truly delightful. With solid and dainty the table is drest, The wine beams its brightest, the flowers bloom their best; Yet the host need not smile, and no guests will appear, For his sweetheart is dead, as he shortly shall hear. Full forty years since turned the key in that door. 'Tis a room deaf and dumb mid the city's uproar. The guests, for whose joyance that table was spread, May now enter as ghosts, for they're every one dead. Through a chink in the shutter dim lights come and go; The seats are in order, the dishes a-row : But the luncheon was wealth to the rat and the mouse Whose descendants have long left the Dirty Old House. Cup and platter are masked in thick layers of dust; The flowers fallen to powder, the wine swathed in crust; WILLIAM ALLINGHAM. LAMENT OF THE BORDER WIDOW. [This ballad relates to the execution of Cockburne of Hender. land, a border freebooter, hanged over the gate of his own tower by James V. in his famous expedition, in 1529, against the marauders of the border. In a deserted burial-place near the ruins of the cas The tle, the monument of Cockburne and his lady is still shown. There came a man, by middle day, I sewed his sheet, making my mane; I took his body on my back, And whiles I gaed, and whiles I sat ; Nae living man I'll love again, ANONYMOUS. THE KING OF DENMARK'S RIDE. WORD was brought to the Danish king (Hurry!) That the love of his heart lay suffering, And pined for the comfort his voice would bring; (O, ride as though you were flying!) |