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He takes the good away from earth,
To live with Him above!

Oh that God had not loved him so!
For then he might have stayed,
And kissed me as he used at nights,
When by his knee I played.

Oh that he had not been so good,
So patient, or so kind!

Oh, had but we been more like him,

And not been left behind!

DORA GREENWELL.

65

THE MAY QUEEN.

PART I.

You must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear;

To-morrow'll be the happiest time of all the glad New

Year;

Of all the glad New Year, mother, the maddest, merriest

day;

For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

66

THE MAY QUEEN.

There's many a black, black eye, they say, but none so bright as mine;

There's Margaret and Mary, there's Kate and Caroline; But none so fair as little Alice in all the land, they say; So I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

I sleep so sound all night, mother, that I shall never wake,

If

you

do not call me loud, when the day begins to break:

But I must gather knots of flowers, and buds and gar

lands gay;

For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

As I came up the valley, whom think you should I see, But Robin, leaning on the bridge beneath the hazel tree? He thought of that sharp look, mother, I gave him yesterday,

But I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

He thought I was a ghost, mother, for I was all in white, And I ran by him without speaking, like a flash of light.

THE MAY QUEEN.

67

They call me cruel-hearted; but I care not what they say, For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

They say he's dying all for love; but that can never be ; They say his heart is breaking, mother; what is that to me?

There's many a bolder lad'll woo me any summer day, For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

Little Effie shall go with me to-morrow to the green, And you'll be there, too, mother, to see me made the queen;

For the shepherd lads on every side'll come from far

away,

And I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

The honeysuckle round the porch has woven its wavy bowers,

And by the meadow-trenches blow the faint sweet cuckoo-flowers,

And the wild marsh-marigold shines like fire in swamps. and hollows gray,

And I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

68

THE MAY QUEEN.

The night-winds come and go, mother, upon the mead

ow-grass,

And the happy stars above them seem to brighten as they

pass;

There will not be a drop of rain the whole of the livelong day,

And I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

All the valley, mother, 'll be fresh and green and still, And the cowslip and the crowfoot are over all the hill, And the rivulet in the flowery dale'll merrily glance and play;

For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

So you must wake and call me early, call me early, mother dear;

To-morrow'll be the happiest time of all the glad New Year;

To-morrow'll be of all the year the maddest, merriest

day;

For I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May.

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