MY girl hath violet eyes and yellow hair,
A soft hand, like a lady’s, small and fair,
A sweet fate pouting in a white straw bonnet,
A tiny foot, and little boot upon it;
And all her finery to charm beholders
Is the gray shawl drawn tight around her shoulders,
The plain stuff-gown and collar white as snow,
And sweet red petticoat that...
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From “The Earthly Paradise”
ATALANTA VICTORIOUS
AND there two runners did the sign abide
Foot set to foot,—a young man slim and fair,
Crisp-haired, well knit, with firm limbs often tried
In places where no man his strength may spare;
Dainty his thin coat was, and on his hair
A golden circlet of renown he wore,
And in his hand an... -
Come live with me and be my love,
And we will all the pleasures prove,
That hills and valleys, dales and fields,
Woods or craggy mountains yield.And we will sit upon the rocks,
Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks
By shallow rivers, to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.And will I make thee beds of roses,
... -
If all the world and love were young,
And truth in every shepherd’s tongue,
These pretty pleasures might me move
To live with thee, and be thy love.Time drives the flocks from field to fold,
When rivers rage and rocks grow cold;
And Philomel becometh dumb,
The rest complain of cares to come.The flowers do fade, and wanton...
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From the Greek by Andrew Lang
AH, Golden Eyes, to win you yet,
I bring mine April coronet,
The lovely blossoms of the spring,
For you I weave, to you I bring:
These roses with the lilies wet,
The dewy dark-eyed violet,
Narcissus, and the wind-flower wet.
Wilt thou disdain mine offering,
Ah, Golden Eyes?
... -
In the merry month of May,
In a morn by break of day,
With a troop of damsels playing
Forth I rode, forsooth, a-maying,When anon by a woodside,
Where as May was in his pride,
I espièd, all alone,
Phillida and Corydon.Much ado there was, God wot!
He would love and she would not:
She said, “Never man was true... -
There was a youthe, and a well-beloved youthe,
And he was a squire’s son;
He loved the bayliffes daughter deare,
That lived in Islington.Yet she was coye, and would not believe
That he did love her soe,
Noe nor at any time would she
Any countenance to him showe.But when his friendes did understand
His fond... -
“where are you going, my pretty maid?”
“I am going a-milking, sir,” she said.
“May I go with you, my pretty maid?”
“You ’re kindly welcome, sir,” she said.
“What is your father, my pretty maid?”
“My father ’s a farmer, sir,” she said.
“What is your fortune, my pretty maid?”
“My face is my fortune, sir,” she said.
“Then I won’t... -
My eyes! how I love you,
You sweet little dove you!
There ’s no one above you,
Most beautiful Kitty.So glossy your hair is,
Like a sylph’s or a fairy’s;
And your neck, I declare, is
Exquisitely pretty.Quite Grecian your nose is,
And your cheeks are like roses,
So delicious—O Moses!
... -
I Wandered by the brookside,
I wandered by the mill;
I could not hear the brook flow,—
The noisy wheel was still;
There was no burr of grasshopper,
No chirp of any bird,
But the beating of my own heart
Was all the sound I heard.I sat beneath the elm-tree;
I watched the long, long shade,
And, as it grew still...