Part 24 (2/2)
xxxIV THE WELL OF ST KEYNE
ROBERT SOUTHEY--1774-1843
A well there is in the west country, And a clearer one never was seen; There is not a wife in the west country But has heard of the Well of St Keyne
An oak and an elrow, And afrom the bank above Droops to the water below
A traveller cah; For fro, And there was not a cloud in the sky
He drank of the water so cool and clear, For thirsty and hot was he; And he sat down upon the bank Under the -tree
There came a man from the house hard by, At the well to fill his pail; On the well-side he rested it, And he bade the stranger hail
”Now, art thou a bachelor, stranger?” quoth he; ”For, an if thou hast a wife, The happiest draught thou hast drank this day That ever thou didst in thy life
”Or has thy good woman, if one thou hast, Ever here in Cornwall been?
For, an if she have, I'll venture my life She has drank of the Well of St Keyne”
”I have left a good woer he ht should be the better for that, I pray you answer me why”
”St Keyne,” quoth the Cornish-man, ”el summon'd her, She laid on the water a spell,--
”If the husband of this gifted well Shall drink before his wife, A happy man thenceforth is he, For he shall be master for life;
”But if the wife should drink of it first, God help the husband then!”
The stranger stoop'd to the Well of St Keyne, And drank of the water again
”You drank of the well, I warrant, betimes?”
He to the Cornish-er spake, And sheepishly shook his head:--
”I hasten'd, as soon as the wedding was done, And left my wife in the porch; But i' faith she had been wiser than me, For she took a bottle to church”
xxxV THE ISLES OF GREECE
LORD BYRON--1788-1824
The isles of Greece! the isles of Greece!
Where burning Sappho lov'd and sung, Where grew the arts of war and peace, Where Delos rose, and Phoebus sprung!
Eternal suilds them yet, But all, except their sun, is set