English

33

That house was Delia's, last of all her name,
To her lone hand bequeathed through many sires;
There seventy years she dwelt in virgin fame,
Fair daughter of a race of ruddy squires.
Few were their tastes, and artless their desires;
A stock deep-rooted like their forest oak;
Remote from foreign customs of the shires,

26

But lo! his front the CASTLE proudly rears,
And with unguarded rampire seems to frown,
As, o'er the gulf of twice three hundred years,
He watched the battle rolling from the down.
See, see the breathless, trembling, gazing town!
There, with his white-crossed warriors' fierce array,
De Montfort! here, the might of Henry's Crown!

19

" Not of this world my kingdom!" Heard I not
The Evangel word descend from Heaven's blue dome,
And hover, dove-like, o'er the shrines where rot
The Art, the Lust, the Majesty of Rome?
" Not of this world!" Once more the echoes come,
The while his holy verse the shepherd sings
In these green hills of quiet Christendom,

13

Whoe'er thou art that, Man's primaeval state
Belittling, seek'st to magnify thine own,
Forecasting for thy race a boundless date,
Go, view the Roman's VILLA overthrown!
There, on some few Mosaics brightly shown,
Lingers the radiant Venus' conquering smile;
There Cupid Gladiators strive in stone,

7

As flows the life-blood from the Heart's deep wells
With still renewing still destroying tide,
And every moment wastes and builds the cells
Wherein its ceaseless circling currents glide:
So runs the dream-like tale of human pride.
The Nations come; they lay foundations vast,
Creed, Custom, Law; awhile their works abide;

1

A LL outward forms immutable abide,
And in my heart a thousand memories spring:
The shepherd sings on yon green barrow's side,
As thirty summers past I heard him sing:
I hear, I hear the same lark answering:
I scent the old, remembered, warm perfume
Of the wild thyme: I tread the Fairy ring;
And welcome, each in their familiar room,

Now wend we together, my merry men all,
Unto the forest side-a:
And there to strike a buck or a doe,
Let our cunning all be tried-a.

Then go we merrily, merrily on,
To the greenwood to take our stand,
Where we will lie in wait for our game,
With our bent bows all in our hand.

What life is there like to Robin Hood?
It is so pleasant a thing-a:
In merry Sherwood he spends his days,
As pleasantly as a king-a.

No man may compare with Robin Hood,
With Robin Hood, Scathlock and John:

The princely heart, that freely spends,
Relieves full many a thousand more,
He getteth praise, he gaineth friends,
And people's love procures therefore.
But pinching fist, that spareth all,
Of due relief the needy robs,
Nought can be caught, where nought doth fall,
There comes no good of greedy cobs.
This issue therefore do I make:
The best deserver draw the stake. Tenacity:

Whilst thou dost spend with friend and foe,
At home che hold the plough by th' tail:

As light as a fly,
In pleasant jollity:
With mirth and melody,
Sing money, money, money.
Money the minion, the spring of all joy,
Money, the medicine that heals each annoy,
Money, the jewel that man keeps in store,
Money, the idol that women adore.
That money am I, the fountain of bliss,
Whereof whoso tasteth, doth never amiss.
Money, money, money.
Sing money, money, money.

LUSTILY , lustily, let us sail forth,
The wind trim doth serve us, it blows at the North.

All things we have ready, and nothing we want,
To furnish our ship that rideth hereby:
Victuals and weapons, they be nothing scant,
Like worthy mariners ourselves we will try.
Lustily, lustily etc.

Her flags be new trimmed set flaunting aloft,
Our ship for swift swimming, Oh she doth excell:
We fear no enemies, we have escaped them oft;
Of all ships that swimmeth, she bareth the bell.
Lustily, lustily. etc.