English

Behold a hag whom Life denies a kiss
As he rides questward in knight-errantwise;
Only when he hath passed her is it his
To know, too late, the Fairy in disguise.

Behind thy pasteboard, on thy battered hack,
Thy lean cheek striped with plaster to and fro,
Thy long spear leveled at the unseen foe,
And doubtful Sancho trudging at thy back,
Thou wert a figure strange enough, good lack!
To make Wiseacredom, both high and low,
Rub purblind eyes, and (having watched thee go),
Dispatch its Dogberrys upon thy track:
Alas! poor Knight! Alas! poor soul possessed!
Yet would to-day, when Courtesy grows chill,
And life's fine loyalties are turned to jest,
Some fire of thine might burn within us still!

At Guaymas I born in this various world,
But I spik Ingless, as ustedes see;
I was nice children's hoss, my mane was curled;
Then for ten dollar' one day they sell me.
Then I much travel, trade from hand to hand,
And learn much languages to understand.

How ole I am? Oh, my, no more don't know!
How much I cost? Three drinks las' time they pay.
What can I do? Why go, an' go, an' go,
Or stand, an' stand, an' stand the whole long day.
Oh no, señor, yiou mus' not be distress'!
A hoss gets used to several things, I guess.

As sometimes with a sable Cloud
We see the Heav'ns bow'd,
And darkning all the aire,
Untill the lab'ring fires they do contain
Break forth again,
Ev'n so from under your black hair
I saw such an unusual blaze
Light'ning and sparkling from your eyes,
And with unused prodigies
Forcing such terrors and amaze,
That I did judge your Empire here
Was not of love alone, but fear.

But as all that is violent
Doth by degrees relent,
So when that sweetest face,

As I was a-going to Strawberry Fair,
Ri toll ri toll, riddle tol de lido
I saw a fair maiden of beauty rare,
Tol de dee.
I saw a young maiden go selling her ware
As she went on to Strawberry Fair,
Ri tol, ri tol riddle tol de lido,
Ri tol, ri tol, riddle tol de dee.

‘O pretty fair maid, I prithee, tell,
My pretty fair maid, what do you sell?
Oh come tell my truly, my sweet damsel,
As you go on to Strawberry Fair.’

‘Oh I have a lock that doth lack a key,
Oh I have a lock, sir,’ she did say.

As Iwandered round the homestead,
Many a dear, familiar spot
Brought within my recollection
Scenes I'd seemingly forgot.
There the orchard meadow yonder,
Here the deep, old-fashioned well,
With its old moss-covered bucket,
Sent a thrill no tongue can tell.

Though the house was held by strangers,
All remained the same within,
Just as when a child I rambled
Up and down and out and in.
To the garret dark, ascending,
Once a source of childish dread,
Peering through the misty cobwebs,

And thou hast walked about (how strange a story!)
In Thebes's streets three thousand years ago,
When the Memnonium was in all its glory,
And time had not begun to overthrow
—Those temples, palaces, and piles stupendous
—Of which the very ruins are tremendous.

Speak! for thou long enough hast acted dummy.
Thou hast a tongue,—come, let us hear its tune;
Thou'rt standing on thy legs, above ground, mummy!
Revisiting the glimpses of the moon,—
—Not like thin ghosts or disembodied creatures,

And Bidpai said
the thieves have stormed
across the harbor mole,
they've broken the ship's mast
and plundered its precious cargo,
the captain is still
searching through the alleys
for his old telescope.
It is this story, Dabshalim
I see unfolding, chapter by chapter.

And as we walked the grass was faintly stirred;
We did not speak—there was no need to speak.
Above our heads there flew a little bird,
A silent one who feared that we might seek
Her hard-hid nest.

Poor little frightened one!
If we had found your nest that sunny day
We would have passed it by; we would have gone
And never looked or frightened you away.

O little bird! there's many have a nest,
A hard-found, open place, with many a foe;
And hunger and despair and little rest,
And more to fear than you can know.

An old-time pond, from off whose shadowed depth
Is heard the splash where some lithe frog leaps in.