Poems of the Old Days and the New

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Roberts Brothers, 1885 - 229 pages
 

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Page 42 - She sp'oke and was gone; and when Oliver cried, "Hie over! hie over! you man of the ferry — the ferry!" By the still water's side she was heard far and wide; she replied, And she mocked in her voice sweet and merry : " You man of the ferry— " You man of — you man of the ferry ! " " Hie over !
Page 36 - Oh ! a girl was no good !" So he whistled and went, he went over the stile to the wood. It was sad, it was sorrowful ! Only a girl— only seven ! At home in the dark London smoke I had not found it out. The pear-trees looked on in their white, and bluebirds flashed about And they, too, were angry as Oliver.
Page 41 - Shall I wear a white gown and have flowers to walk upon ever ?' All doubtful : ' It takes a long time to grow up,' quoth Eleven ; ' You're so little, you know, and the church is so old, it can never Last on till you're tall.' And in whispers, — because it was old And holy, and fraught with strange meaning, half felt, but not told, Full of old parsons...
Page 43 - Art out with the glowworms to-night, My Katie ? ' ' My Katie ! ' For gladness I break into laughter And tears. Then it all comes again as from far-away years ; Again, some one else — oh, how softly ! — with laughter comes after, Comes after — with laughter comes after.
Page 42 - Will it all seem an echo from childhood pass'd over — pass'd on? Will the grave parson bless us? Hark, hark! in the dim failing light I hear her! As then the child's voice clear and high, sweet and merry Now she mocks the man's tone with "Hie over! Hie over the ferry ! " •' And Katie."
Page 36 - AY, Oliver ! I was but seven, and he was eleven ; He looked at me pouting and rosy. I blushed where I stood. They had told us to play in the orchard (and I only seven ! A small guest at the farm) ; but he said ' Oh, a girl was no good ! ' So he whistled and went, he went over the stile to the wood.
Page 39 - Hie over ! hie over ! you man of the ferry — the ferry ! " By the still water's side she was heard far and wide — she replied, And she mocked in her voice sweet and merry, "You man of the ferry, You man of — you man of the ferry !
Page 38 - So this was the country; clear dazzle of azure and shiver, And whisper of leaves, and a humming all over the tall White branches, a humming of bees. And I came to the wall — A little, low wall — and looked over, and there was the river, The lane that led on to the village, and then the sweet river, Clear shining and slow, she had far, far to go from her snow; But each rush gleamed a sword in the sunlight to guard her long flow, And she murmured, methought, with a speech very soft, very low. "...
Page 40 - All measure her doubling — so close, then so far away falling, Then gone, and no more. Oh! to see her but once unaware, And the mouth that had mocked, but we might not (yet sure she was there !), Nor behold her wild eyes and her mystical countenance fair. We sought in the wood, and we found the woodwren in her stead; In the field, and we found but the cuckoo that talked overhead; By the brook, and we found the reed-sparrow deepnested, in brown — Not Echo, fair Echo! for Echo, sweet Echo! was...

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