The Ferry

There was a gay maiden lived down by the mill,— Ferry me over the ferry,— Her hair was as bright as the waves of a rill, When the sun on the brink of his setting stands still, Her lips were as full as a cherry. A stranger came galloping over the hill,— Ferry me over the ferry,— He gave her broad silver and gold for his will: She glanced at the stranger, she glanced o’er the still, The maiden was gentle and merry. “O! what would you give for your virtue again?”— Ferry me over the ferry,— “O! silver and gold on your lordship I ’d rain, I ’d double your pleasure, I ’d double my pain, This moment forever to bury.”

Collection: 

More from Poet

[May 27, 1863] DARK as the clouds of even, Ranked in the western heaven, Waiting the breath that lifts All the dead mass, and drifts Tempest and falling brand Over a ruined land,— So still and orderly, Arm to arm, knee to knee, Waiting the great event, Stands the black regiment. Down the long...

Close his 1 eyes; his work is done! What to him is friend or foeman, Rise of moon or set of sun, Hand of man or kiss of woman? Lay him low, lay him low, In the clover or the snow! What cares he? he cannot know; Lay him low! As man may, he fought his fight, Proved his...

In Sana, O, in Sana, God, the Lord, Was very kind and merciful to me! Forth from the Desert in my rags I came, Weary and sore of foot. I saw the spires And swelling bubbles of the golden domes Rise through the trees of Sana, and my heart Grew great within me with the strength of God And I cried...

Close his eyes; his work is done! What to him is friend or foeman, Rise of moon, or set of sun, Hand of man, or kiss of woman? Lay him low, lay him low, In the clover or the snow! What cares he? he cannot know: Lay him low! As man may, he fought his fight, Proved his...

I i ’ll call thy frown a headsman, passing grim, Walking before some wretch foredoomed to death, Who counts the pantings of his own hard breath, Wondering how heart can beat, or stead-fast limb Bear its sad burden to life’s awful brim. I ’ll call thy smile a priest, who slowly sayeth Soft words...