Volume I Part 74 (2/2)

Petronilla, much I fear Scarcely have you wept All those merry yesterdays, Slaughtered whilst you slept, Slain to bind that pretty crown Closer round your head.

”Silly boy, as if I cared,”

Petronilla said.

Henry Howarth Bashford [1880-

THE GYPSY GIRL

Pa.s.sing I saw her as she stood beside A lonely stream between two barren wolds; Her loose vest hung in rudely gathered folds On her swart bosom, which in maiden pride Pillowed a string of pearls; among her hair Twined the light bluebell and the stone-crop gay; And not far thence the small encampment lay, Curling its wreathed smoke into the air.

She seemed a child of some sun-favored clime; So still, so habited to warmth and rest; And in my wayward musings on past time, When my thought fills with treasured memories, That image nearest borders on the blest Creations of pure art that never dies.

Henry Alford [1810-1871]

f.a.n.n.y A Southern Blossom

Come and see her as she stands, Crimson roses in her hands; And her eyes Are as dark as Southern night, Yet than Southern dawn more bright, And a soft, alluring light In them lies.

None deny if she beseech With that pretty, liquid speech Of the South.

All her consonants are slurred, And the vowels are preferred; There's a poem in each word From that mouth.

Even Cupid is her slave; Of her arrows, half he gave Her one day In a merry, playful hour.

Dowered with these and beauty's dower, Strong indeed her magic power, So they say.

Venus, not to be outdone By her generous little son, Shaped the mouth Very like to Cupid's bow.

Lack-a-day! Our North can show No such lovely flowers as grow In the South!

Anne Reeve Aldrich [1866-1892]

SOMEBODY'S CHILD

Just a picture of Somebody's child,-- Sweet face set in golden hair, Violet eyes, and cheeks of rose, Rounded chin, with a dimple there,

Tender eyes where the shadows sleep, Lit from within by a secret ray,-- Tender eyes that will s.h.i.+ne like stars When love and womanhood come this way:

Scarlet lips with a story to tell,-- Blessed be he who shall find it out, Who shall learn the eyes' deep secret well, And read the heart with never a doubt.

Then you will tremble, scarlet lips, Then you will crimson, loveliest cheeks: Eyes will brighten and blushes will burn When the one true lover bends and speaks.

But she's only a child now, as you see, Only a child in her careless grace: When Love and Womanhood come this way Will anything sadden the flower-like face?

Louise Chandler Moulton [1835-1908]

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