Cheated Elsie
E LSIE was a maiden fair
As the sun
Shone upon:
Born to teach her swains despair
By smiling on them every one;
Born to win all hearts to her
Just because herself had none;
All the day she had no care,
For she was a maiden fair
As the sun
Shone upon,
Heartless as the brooks that run.
All the maids, with envy tart,
Sneering said, " She has no heart."
All the youths, with bitter smart
Sighing said, " She has no heart!"
Could she care
For their sneers or their despair
When she was a maiden fair
As the sun
Shone upon,
Heartless as the brooks that run?
But one day whenas she stood
In a wood
Haunted by the fairy brood,
Did she view, or dream she viewed
In a vision's
Wild misprisions,
How a pedlar, dry and rude
As a crook'd branch taking flesh,
Caught the spirit in a mesh,
Singing of — " What is't ye lack?"
Wizard-pack
On twisted back,
Still he sang, " What is't ye lack?
" Lack ye land or lack ye gold,
What I give, I give unsold;
Lack ye wisdom, lack ye beauty,
To your suit he
Gives unpaid, the pedlar old!" Fairies .
Beware, beware! the gifts he gives
One pays for, sweetheart, while one lives! Elsie .
What is it the maidens say
That I lack? Pedlar .
By this bright day
Can so fair a maiden lack?
Maid so sweet
Should be complete. Elsie .
Yet a thing they say I lack.
In thy pack, —
Pedlar, tell —
Hast thou ever a heart to sell? Pedlar .
Yea, a heart I have, as tender
As the mood of evening air. Elsie .
Name thy price! Pedlar .
The price, by Sorrow!
Only is, the heart to wear. Elsie .
Not great the price, as was my fear. Fairies .
So cheap a price was ne'er so dear.
Beware, beware,
O rash and fair!
The gifts he gives,
Sweetheart, one pays for while one lives!
Scarce the present did she take,
When the heart began to ache. Elsie .
Ah, what is this? Take back thy gift!
I had not, and I knew no lack;
Now I have, I lack for ever! Fairies .
The gifts he gives, he takes not back. Elsie .
Ah! why the present did I take,
And knew not that a heart would ache? Fairies .
Ache! and is that all thy sorrow? —
Beware, beware — a heart will break!
As the sun
Shone upon:
Born to teach her swains despair
By smiling on them every one;
Born to win all hearts to her
Just because herself had none;
All the day she had no care,
For she was a maiden fair
As the sun
Shone upon,
Heartless as the brooks that run.
All the maids, with envy tart,
Sneering said, " She has no heart."
All the youths, with bitter smart
Sighing said, " She has no heart!"
Could she care
For their sneers or their despair
When she was a maiden fair
As the sun
Shone upon,
Heartless as the brooks that run?
But one day whenas she stood
In a wood
Haunted by the fairy brood,
Did she view, or dream she viewed
In a vision's
Wild misprisions,
How a pedlar, dry and rude
As a crook'd branch taking flesh,
Caught the spirit in a mesh,
Singing of — " What is't ye lack?"
Wizard-pack
On twisted back,
Still he sang, " What is't ye lack?
" Lack ye land or lack ye gold,
What I give, I give unsold;
Lack ye wisdom, lack ye beauty,
To your suit he
Gives unpaid, the pedlar old!" Fairies .
Beware, beware! the gifts he gives
One pays for, sweetheart, while one lives! Elsie .
What is it the maidens say
That I lack? Pedlar .
By this bright day
Can so fair a maiden lack?
Maid so sweet
Should be complete. Elsie .
Yet a thing they say I lack.
In thy pack, —
Pedlar, tell —
Hast thou ever a heart to sell? Pedlar .
Yea, a heart I have, as tender
As the mood of evening air. Elsie .
Name thy price! Pedlar .
The price, by Sorrow!
Only is, the heart to wear. Elsie .
Not great the price, as was my fear. Fairies .
So cheap a price was ne'er so dear.
Beware, beware,
O rash and fair!
The gifts he gives,
Sweetheart, one pays for while one lives!
Scarce the present did she take,
When the heart began to ache. Elsie .
Ah, what is this? Take back thy gift!
I had not, and I knew no lack;
Now I have, I lack for ever! Fairies .
The gifts he gives, he takes not back. Elsie .
Ah! why the present did I take,
And knew not that a heart would ache? Fairies .
Ache! and is that all thy sorrow? —
Beware, beware — a heart will break!
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