Careless their merits, or their faults to scan, Thus, to relieve the wretched was his pride, He watch'd and wept, he pray'd and felt for all. Beside the bed where parting life was laid, At Church, with meek and unaffected grace, With ready zeal each honest rustic ran : And pluck'd his gown, to share the good man's smile. D As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form, Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm, Beside yon straggling fence that skirts the way, In arguing, too, the parson own'd his skill, And still they gaz'd, and still the wonder grew, But past is all his fame. The very spot Where many a time he triumph'd is forgot. GOLDSMITH. THE MAY QUEEN. 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. There's many a 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 garlands gay, For I'm to be Queen of the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May. As I came up the valley whom think ye 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 that I was a ghost, mother, for I was all in white, And I ran by him without speaking, like a flash of light. 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 'ill woo me any summer day, And 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 wov'n 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 grey, And I'm to be Queen o' the May, mother, I'm to be Queen o' the May. The night-winds come and go, mother, upon the meadow-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, 'ill be fresh and green and still, And the cowslip and the crowfoot are over all the hill, And the rivulet in the flowery dale 'ill 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 'ill 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. |