Arthur Quiller-Couch, comp. The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse. 1922.
Last LinesRichard Harris Barham (Thomas Ingoldsby) (1788–1845)
A
Merrie sang the Birde as she sat upon the spraye;
There came a noble Knyghte,
With his hauberke shynynge brighte,
And his gallant heart was lyghte,
Free and gaye;
As I laye a-thynkynge, he rode upon his waye.
Sadly sang the Birde as she sat upon the tree!
There seem’d a crimson plain,
Where a gallant Knyghte lay slayne,
And a steed with broken rein
Ran free,
As I laye a-thynkynge, most pitiful to see!
Merrie sang the Birde as she sat upon the boughe;
A lovely Mayde came bye,
And a gentil youth was nyghe,
And he breathèd many a syghe
And a vowe;
As I laye a-thynkynge, her hearte was gladsome now.
Sadly sang the Birde as she sat upon the thorne,
No more a youth was there,
But a Maiden rent her haire,
And cried in sad despaire,
‘That I was borne!’
As I laye a-thynkynge, she perished forlorne.
Sweetly sang the Birde as she sat upon the briar;
There came a lovely Childe,
And his face was meek and mild,
Yet joyously he smiled
On his sire;
As I laye a-thynkynge, a Cherub mote admire.
And sadly sang the Birde as it perch’d upon a bier;
That joyous smile was gone,
And the face was white and wan,
As the downe upon the Swan
Doth appear,
As I laye a-thynkynge—O! bitter flow’d the tear!
O merrie sang that Birde as it glitter’d on her breast
With a thousand gorgeous dyes,
While, soaring to the skies,
’Mid the stars she seem’d to rise,
As to her nest;
As I laye a-thynkynge, her meaning was exprest:—
‘Follow, follow me away,
It boots not to delay,’—
’Twas so she seem’d to saye,
‘H