English

Husband, today could you and I behold
The sun that brought us to our bridal morn
Rising so splendid in the winter sky
(We thought fair spring returned), when we were wed;
Could the shades vanish from these fifteen years,
Which stand like columns guarding the approach
To that great temple of the double soul
That is as one—would you turn back, my dear,
And, for the sake of Love's mysterious dream,
As old as Adam and as sweet as Eve,
Take me, as I took you, and once more go
Towards that goal which none of us have reached?

London Bridge is broken down,
Dance o'er my lady lee,
London Bridge is broken down,
With a gay lady.

How shall we build it up again?
Dance o'er my lady lee,
How shall we build it up again,
With a gay lady.

Build it up with silver and gold,
Dance o'er my lady lee,
Build it up with silver and gold,
With a gay lady.

Silver and gold will be stole away,
Dance o'er my lady lee,
Silver and gold will be stole away,
With a gay lady.

Build it up again with iron and steel,

Whither excursive Fancy tends thy Flight?
Like Eastern Caliph masking thee at night,
By Vezier memory attended still,
Thou pertly pryest in each domicil.
Woe! to the Caitiff then who in his cups,
Unconscious with sublimity he sups,
Shall vow in Bacchanalian truth or fun
Thou art not kindred to the glorious sun!
I fear thee not, clandestine ambulator!
Thou most sophistical and specious traitor
To Truth and Reason, those imperial twins
Whose Empire with thy Martyrdom begins.
What is thy drift in brandishing a flag,

Let me do my work each day;
And if the darkened hours of despair overcome me,
May I not forget the strength that comforted me
In the desolation of other times.
May I still remember the bright hours that found me
Walking over the silent hills of my childhood,
Or dreaming on the margin of the quiet river,
When a light glowed within me,
And I promised my early God to have courage
Amid the tempests of the changing years.
Spare me from bitterness
And from the sharp passions of unguarded moments.

Lemme be wid Casey Jones,
Lemme be wid Stagolee,
Lemme be wid such like men
When Death takes hol' on me,
When Death takes hol' on me. . . .

Done skinned as a boy in Kentucky hills,
Druv steel dere as a man,
Done stripped tobacco in Virginia fiels'
Alongst de River Dan,
Alongst de River Dan;

Done mined de coal in West Virginia
Liked dat job jes' fine
Till a load o' slate curved roun' my head
Won't work in no mo' mine,
Won't work in no mo' mine;

Done shocked de corn in Marylan,

Last night, within my dreaming,
There somehow came to me
The faint and fairy music
Of the far-off, singing sea.

This morning, 'neath the pine tree,
I heard that song once more;
And I seemed to see the billows,
As they broke against the shore.

O wandering summer breezes!
The pine harps touch again
For the child who loves the ocean,
And longs for it in vain.

A knight and a lady
Went riding one day
Far into the forest,
Away, away.

“Fair knight,” said the lady,
“I pray, have a care.
This forest is evil;
Beware, beware.”

A fiery red dragon
They spied on the grass;
The lady wept sorely,
Alas! Alas!

The knight slew the dragon,
The lady was gay,
They rode on together,

Toiling in Town now is “horrid,”
(There is that woman again!)—
June in the zenith is torrid,
Thought gets dry in the brain.

There is that woman again:
“Strawberries! fourpence a pottle!”
Thought gets dry in the brain;
Ink gets dry in the bottle.

“Strawberries! fourpence a pottle!”
Oh for the green of a lane!—
Ink gets dry in the bottle;
“Buzz” goes a fly in the pane!

Oh for the green of a lane,
Where one might lie and be lazy!
“Buzz” goes a fly in the pane;
Bluebottles drive me crazy!

Queen Jane lay in labour full nine days or more,
Till the women were so tired, they could stay no longer there.

‘Good women, good women, good women as ye be,
Do open my right side, and find my baby.’

‘Oh no,’ said the women, ‘that never may be,
We will send for King Henry and hear what he say.’

King Henry was sent for, King Henry did come:
‘What do ail you, my lady, your eyes look so dim?’

‘King Henry, King Henry, will you do one thing for me?
That's to open my right side, and find my baby.’

1. It was a dark and stormy night, And the
snow laid on the ground. A young sailor boy stood
on the quay, And his ship was outward bound. “Farewell,
farewell,” says he to her, “I soon must leave you
now, But when I do return again, I'll think of you at sea.

2 “Farewell, farewell, my own true love!
Always keep true to me,
And when the ship is out at sea,
I'll always think of you.”
But he never did return again,
For his ship it foundered low,
And that's the way a sailor's life
To his sweetheart often goes.