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“Waly, waly” |
Anonymous |
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English |
O Waly, waly, up the bank,
O waly, waly, doun the brae,
And waly, waly, yon burn-side,
Where I and my love were wont to gae!
I leaned my back unto an aik,
I thocht it was a trustie tree,
But first it bowed and syne it brak’,—
Sae my... |
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“We are brethren a’” |
Robert Nicoll |
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English |
A Happy bit hame this auld world would be
If men, when they ’re here, could make shift to agree,
An’ ilk said to his neighbor, in cottage an’ ha’,
“Come, gi’e me your hand,—we are brethren a’.”
I ken na why ane wi’ anither should fight,
When to ’gree... |
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“We are seven” |
William Wordsworth |
1790 |
English |
A Simple child,
That lightly draws its breath,
And feels its life in every limb,
What should it know of death?
I met a little cottage girl:
She was eight years old, she said;
Her hair was thick with many a curl
That... |
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“We have been friends together” |
Caroline Elizabeth Sarah |
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English |
We have been friends together
In sunshine and in shade,
Since first beneath the chestnut-tree
In infancy we played.
But coldness dwells within thy heart,
A cloud is on thy brow;
We have been friends together,
Shall a light word part... |
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“We parted in silence” |
Louisa Macartney Crawford |
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English |
We parted in silence, we parted by night,
On the banks of that lonely river;
Where the fragrant limes their boughs unite,
We met—and we parted forever!
The night-bird sung, and the stars above
Told many a touching story,
Of friends long... |
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“Welcome, welcome, do I sing” |
William Browne |
1611 |
English |
Welcome, welcome, do I sing,
Far more welcome than the spring;
He that parteth from you never
Shall enjoy a spring forever.
Love, that to the voice is near,
Breaking from your ivory pale,
Need not walk abroad to hear
... |
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“Were I as base as is the lowly plain” |
Joshua Sylvester |
1583 |
English |
Were I as base as is the lowly plain,
And you, my Love, as high as heaven above,
Yet should the thoughts of me your humble swain
Ascend to heaven, in honor of my Love.
Were I as high as heaven above the plain,
And you, my Love, as humble and as low... |
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“Were I but his own wife” |
Ellen Mary Downing |
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English |
Were I but his own wife, to guard and to guide him,
’T is little of sorrow should fall on my dear;
I ’d chant my low love-verses, stealing beside him,
So faint and so tender his heart would but hear;
I ’d pull the wild blossoms from valley and highland;... |
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“What ails this heart o’ mine?” |
Susanna Blamire |
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English |
What ails this heart o’ mine?
What ails this watery ee?
What gars me a’ turn pale as death
When I take leave o’ thee?
When thou art far awa’,
Thou ’lt dearer grow to me;
But change o’ place and change o’ folk
May gar thy fancy jee... |
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“What can an old man do but die?” |
Thomas Hood |
1819 |
English |
SPRING it is cheery,
Winter is dreary,
Green leaves hang, but the brown must fly;
When he ’s forsaken,
Withered and shaken,
What can an old man do but die?
Love will not clip him,
Maids will not lip him... |
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“What constitutes a state?” |
Sir William Jones |
1766 |
English |
WHAT constitutes a state?
Not high-raised battlement or labored mound,
Thick wall or moated gate;
Not cities proud with spires and turrets crowned;
Not bays and broad-armed ports,
Where, laughing at the storm, rich navies ride;
Not... |
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“What does little birdie say?” |
Alfred, Lord Tennyson |
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English |
From “Sea Dreams”
WHAT does little birdie say
In her nest at peep of day?
Let me fly, says little birdie,
Mother, let me fly away.
Birdie, rest a little longer,
Till the little wings are stronger.
So she rests a little longer,
Then... |
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“What is the German’s Fatherland?” |
Ernst Moritz Arndt |
1789 |
English |
Anonymous translation from the German
WHAT is the German’s fatherland?
Is it Prussia, or the Swabian’s land?
Is it where the grape glows on the Rhine?
Where sea-gulls skim the Baltic’s brine?
Oh no! more grand
Must be the German’s... |
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“When do I see thee most?” |
Dante Gabriel Rossetti |
1848 |
English |
From “The House of Life”
WHEN do I see thee most, belovèd one?
When in the light the spirits of mine eyes
Before thy face, their altar, solemnize
The worship of that Love through thee made known?
Or when, in the dusk hours (we two alone),
Close-... |
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“When gathering clouds around I view” |
Sir Robert Grant |
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English |
When gathering clouds around I view,
And days are dark, and friends are few,
On Him I lean, who, not in vain,
Experienced every human pain;
He sees my wants, allays my fears,
And counts and treasures up my tears.
If aught should tempt my soul to... |
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“When icicles hang by the wall” |
William Shakespeare |
1584 |
English |
From “Love’s Labor ’s Lost,” Act V. Sc. 2.
WHEN icicles hang by the wall,
And Dick the shepherd blows his nail,
And Tom bears logs into the hall,
And milk comes frozen home in pail,
When blood is nipped, and ways be foul,
Then nightly sings the... |
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“When in disgrace” |
William Shakespeare |
1584 |
English |
Sonnet Xxix.
when in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf Heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself, and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him,... |
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“When in the chronicle of wasted time” |
William Shakespeare |
1584 |
English |
Sonnet Cvi.
when in the chronicle of wasted time
I see descriptions of the fairest wights,
And beauty making beautiful old rhyme,
In praise of ladies dead, and lovely knights;
Then, in the blazon of sweet beauty’s best
Of hand, of foot, of lip, of... |
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“When lilacs last in the door-yard bloomed” |
Walt Whitman |
1839 |
English |
[The Death of Lincoln.]
1.
WHEN lilacs last in the door-yard bloomed,
And the great star early drooped in the western sky in the night,
I mourned and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.
Ever-returning spring, trinity sure to me you bring,
... |
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“When my ship comes in” |
Robert Jones Burdette |
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English |
Somewhere, out on the blue seas sailing,
Where the winds dance and spin;
Beyond the reach of my eager hailing,
Over the breakers’ din;
Out where the dark storm-clouds are lifting,
Out where the blinding fog is drifting,
Out where the... |
