Classic Poem

Le prisonnier de guerre.

" Marie, 'tis late; put by thy work;
The shepherd's star hath risen! "
" Nay, mother, nay, our village lad
Pines in a foreign prison:
Far off from home, on distant sea
He yielded — but the last was he. "
" Spin, spin, poor Marie, spin,
To send the prisoner aid;
Spin, spin, poor Marie, spin,
For him who's captive made! "
" Well, if thou wilt, the lamp I'll light:
But, child, thy tears still flow! "
" Mother, he frets himself to death;
The Briton mocks his woe.
How Adrien loved me, when a boy!
With him about our hearth, what joy! "
" Spin, spin, poor Marie, spin,
To send the prisoner aid;
Spin, spin, poor Marie, spin,
For him who's captive made! "

" Ah! were I not myself too old,
I'd spin, child, for his sake. "
" O mother, send to him I love
All, all that I can make!
Rose bids me to her wedding go —
Hark, there's the fiddler! — no, no, no! "
" Spin, spin, poor Marie, spin,
To send the prisoner aid;
Spin, spin, poor Marie, spin,
For him who's captive made! "

" Draw near the fire to spin, dear child —
With night it grows more cold! "
" Mother, in floating dungeon groans
Poor Adrien, I've been told:
Stretched are his wasted hands in vain,
His scanty ration to obtain "
" Spin, spin, poor Marie, spin,
To send the prisoner aid;
Spin, spin, poor Marie, spin,
For him who's captive made! "

" Daughter, that he thy husband was
I dreamed again last night;
And always, ere the month be out,
These dreams of mine come right. "
" What! ere the leaves are on the tree,
Shall I my gallant Adrien see? "
" Spin, spin, poor Marie, spin,
To send the prisoner aid;
Spin, spin, poor Marie, spin,
For him who's captive made! "