The Cross Roads
1.
There was an old man breaking stones
To mend the turnpike way;
He sat him down beside a brook,
And out his bread and cheese he took;
For now it was mid-day.
2.
He lean'd his back against a post;
His feet the brook ran by;
And there were water-cresses growing,
And pleasant was the water's flowing,
For he was hot and dry.
3.
A soldier, with his knapsack on,
Came travelling o'er the down;
The sun was strong, and he was tired;
And he of the old man inquired
" How far to Bristol town? "
4.
" Half an hour's walk for a young man,
By lanes, and fields, and stiles;
But you the foot-path do not know;
And if along the road you go,
Why, then 'tis three good miles. "
5.
The soldier took his knapsack off,
For he was hot and dry;
And out his bread and cheese he took,
And he sat down beside the brook
To dine in company.
6.
" Old friend! in faith, " the soldier says,
" I envy you, almost;
My shoulders have been sorely press'd,
And I should like to sit, and rest
My back against that post.
7.
" In such a sweltering day as this,
A knapsack is the devil;
And if on t'other side I sat,
It would not only spoil our chat,
But make me seem uncivil. "
8.
The old man laugh'd and moved. — " I wish
It were a great-arm'd chair!
But this may help a man at need; —
And yet it was a cursed deed
That ever brought it there.
9.
" There's a poor girl lies buried here,
Beneath this very place;
The earth upon her corpse is press'd,
This post was driven into her breast,
And a stone is on her face. "
10.
The soldier had but just lean'd back,
And now he half rose up.
" There's sure no harm in dining here,
My friend? and yet, to be sincere,
I should not like to sup. "
11.
" God rest her! she is still enough
Who sleeps beneath my feet! "
The old man cried. " No harm I trow,
She ever did herself, though now
She lies where four roads meet.
12.
" I have past by about that hour
When men are not most brave;
It did not make my courage fail,
And I have heard the nightingale
Sing sweetly on her grave.
13.
" I have past by about that hour
When ghosts their freedom have
BuThere I saw no ghastly sight;
And quietly the glow-worm's light
Was shining on her grave.
14.
" There's one who, like a Christian, lies
Beneath the church-tree's shade;
I'd rather go a long mile round,
Than pass at evening through the ground
Wherein that man is laid.
15.
" A decent burial that man had,
The bell was heard to toll,
When he was laid in holy ground;
But for all the wealth in Bristol town
I would not be with his soul!
16.
" Didst see a house below the hill
Which the winds and the rains destroy?
In that farm-house did that man dwell,
And I remember it full well
When — was a growing boy.
17.
" But she was a poor parish girl,
Who came up from the west,
From service hard she ran away,
And at that house, in evil day,
Was taken into rest.
18.
" A man of a bad name was he;
An evil life he led;
Passion made his dark face turn white,
And his gray eyes were large and light,
And in anger they grew red.
19.
" The man was bad, the mother worse,
Bad fruit of evil stem;
'Twould make your hair to stand on end
If I should tell to you, my friend,
The things that were told of them!
20.
" Didst see an out-house standing by
The walls alone remain;
It was a stable then, but now
Its mossy roof has fallen through,
All rotted by the rain.
21.
" This poor girl she had served with them
Some half-a-year or more,
When she was found hung up one day,
Stiff as a corpse, and cold as clay,
Behind that stable door.
22.
" It is a wild and lonesome place;
No hut or house is near;
Should one meet a murderer there alone,
'Twere vain to scream, and the dying groan;
Would never reach mortal ear.
23.
" And there were strange reports about;
But still the coroner found
That she by her own hand had died,
And should buried be by the way-side,
And not in Christian ground.
24.
" This was the very place he chose,
Just where these four roads meet,
And I was one among the throng
That hither follow'd them along;
I shall never the sight forget!
25.
" They carried her upon a board
In the clothes in which she died,
I saw the cap blown off her head;
Her face was of a dark, dark red;
Her eyes were starting wide:
26.
" I think they could not have been closed,
So widely did they strain.
O Lord, it was a ghastly sight,
And it often made me wake at night,
When I saw it in dreams again.
27.
" They laid her where these four roads meet,
Here in this very place.
The earth upon her corpse was press'd,
This post was driven into her breast,
And a stone is on her face."
There was an old man breaking stones
To mend the turnpike way;
He sat him down beside a brook,
And out his bread and cheese he took;
For now it was mid-day.
2.
He lean'd his back against a post;
His feet the brook ran by;
And there were water-cresses growing,
And pleasant was the water's flowing,
For he was hot and dry.
3.
A soldier, with his knapsack on,
Came travelling o'er the down;
The sun was strong, and he was tired;
And he of the old man inquired
" How far to Bristol town? "
4.
" Half an hour's walk for a young man,
By lanes, and fields, and stiles;
But you the foot-path do not know;
And if along the road you go,
Why, then 'tis three good miles. "
5.
The soldier took his knapsack off,
For he was hot and dry;
And out his bread and cheese he took,
And he sat down beside the brook
To dine in company.
6.
" Old friend! in faith, " the soldier says,
" I envy you, almost;
My shoulders have been sorely press'd,
And I should like to sit, and rest
My back against that post.
7.
" In such a sweltering day as this,
A knapsack is the devil;
And if on t'other side I sat,
It would not only spoil our chat,
But make me seem uncivil. "
8.
The old man laugh'd and moved. — " I wish
It were a great-arm'd chair!
But this may help a man at need; —
And yet it was a cursed deed
That ever brought it there.
9.
" There's a poor girl lies buried here,
Beneath this very place;
The earth upon her corpse is press'd,
This post was driven into her breast,
And a stone is on her face. "
10.
The soldier had but just lean'd back,
And now he half rose up.
" There's sure no harm in dining here,
My friend? and yet, to be sincere,
I should not like to sup. "
11.
" God rest her! she is still enough
Who sleeps beneath my feet! "
The old man cried. " No harm I trow,
She ever did herself, though now
She lies where four roads meet.
12.
" I have past by about that hour
When men are not most brave;
It did not make my courage fail,
And I have heard the nightingale
Sing sweetly on her grave.
13.
" I have past by about that hour
When ghosts their freedom have
BuThere I saw no ghastly sight;
And quietly the glow-worm's light
Was shining on her grave.
14.
" There's one who, like a Christian, lies
Beneath the church-tree's shade;
I'd rather go a long mile round,
Than pass at evening through the ground
Wherein that man is laid.
15.
" A decent burial that man had,
The bell was heard to toll,
When he was laid in holy ground;
But for all the wealth in Bristol town
I would not be with his soul!
16.
" Didst see a house below the hill
Which the winds and the rains destroy?
In that farm-house did that man dwell,
And I remember it full well
When — was a growing boy.
17.
" But she was a poor parish girl,
Who came up from the west,
From service hard she ran away,
And at that house, in evil day,
Was taken into rest.
18.
" A man of a bad name was he;
An evil life he led;
Passion made his dark face turn white,
And his gray eyes were large and light,
And in anger they grew red.
19.
" The man was bad, the mother worse,
Bad fruit of evil stem;
'Twould make your hair to stand on end
If I should tell to you, my friend,
The things that were told of them!
20.
" Didst see an out-house standing by
The walls alone remain;
It was a stable then, but now
Its mossy roof has fallen through,
All rotted by the rain.
21.
" This poor girl she had served with them
Some half-a-year or more,
When she was found hung up one day,
Stiff as a corpse, and cold as clay,
Behind that stable door.
22.
" It is a wild and lonesome place;
No hut or house is near;
Should one meet a murderer there alone,
'Twere vain to scream, and the dying groan;
Would never reach mortal ear.
23.
" And there were strange reports about;
But still the coroner found
That she by her own hand had died,
And should buried be by the way-side,
And not in Christian ground.
24.
" This was the very place he chose,
Just where these four roads meet,
And I was one among the throng
That hither follow'd them along;
I shall never the sight forget!
25.
" They carried her upon a board
In the clothes in which she died,
I saw the cap blown off her head;
Her face was of a dark, dark red;
Her eyes were starting wide:
26.
" I think they could not have been closed,
So widely did they strain.
O Lord, it was a ghastly sight,
And it often made me wake at night,
When I saw it in dreams again.
27.
" They laid her where these four roads meet,
Here in this very place.
The earth upon her corpse was press'd,
This post was driven into her breast,
And a stone is on her face."
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