Under My Window

Under my window, under my window,   All in the Midsummer weather, Three little girls with fluttering curls   Flit to and fro together:— There ’s Bell with her bonnet of satin sheen, And Maud with her mantle of silver-green,   And Kate with her scarlet feather. Under my window, under my window,   Leaning stealthily over, Merry and clear, the voice I hear,   Of each glad-hearted rover. Ah! sly little Kate, she steals my roses; And Maud and Bell twine wreaths and posies,   As merry as bees in clover. Under my window, under my window,   In the blue Midsummer weather, Stealing slow, on a hushed tiptoe,   I catch them all together:— Bell with her bonnet of satin sheen, And Maud with her mantle of silver-green,   And Kate with the scarlet feather. Under my window, under my window,   And off through the orchard closes; While Maud she flouts, and Bell she pouts,   They scamper and drop their posies; But dear little Kate takes naught amiss, And leaps in my arms with a loving kiss,   And I give her all my roses.