A FAIRY went a-marketing—
She bought a little fish;
She put it in a crystal bowl
Upon a golden dish.
An hour she sat in wonderment
And watched its silver gleam,
And then she gently took it up
And slipped it in a stream.

A fairy went a-marketing—
She bought a coloured bird;
It sang the sweetest, shrillest song
That ever she had heard.
She sat beside its painted cage
And listened half the day,
And then she opened wide the door
And let it fly away.

A fairy went a-marketing—
She bought a winter gown

Fair these broad meads—these hoary woods are grand;
But we are exiles from our fathers' land.

Listen to me, as when ye heard our father
Sing long ago the song of other shores—
Listen to me, and then in chorus gather
All your deep voices, as ye pull your oars.

From the lone shieling of the misty island
Mountains divide us, and the waste of seas—
Yet still the blood is strong, the heart is Highland,
And we in dreams behold the Hebrides.

We ne'er shall tread the fancy-haunted valley,
Where 'tween the dark hills creeps the small clear stream,

Fair Marjorie sat i her bower-door,
Sewin her silken seam,
When by then cam her false true-love,
Gard a' his bridles ring.

‘Open, open, my true-love,
Open an let me in;’
‘I dare na, I dare na, my true-love,
My brethren are within.’

‘Ye lee, ye lee, my ain true-love,
Sae loud I hear ye lee!
For or I cam thrae Lothian banks
They took fare-weel o me.’

The wind was loud, that maid was proud,
An leath, leath to be dung,
But or she wan the Lothian banks
Her fair coulour was gane.
He took her up in his armis,

Dear, if you change, I'll never choose again;
Sweet, if you shrink, I'll never think of love;
Fair, if you fail, I'll judge all beauty vain;
Wise, if too weak, moe wits I'll never prove.
Dear, sweet, fair, wise, change, shrink, nor be not weak;
And, on my faith, my faith shall never break!

Earth with her flowers shall sooner heaven adorn;
Heaven her bright stars through earth's dim globe shall move;
Fire heat shall lose, and frosts of flames be born;
Air, made to shine, as black as hell shall prove.

THE DAYS grow shorter, the nights grow longer;
The headstones thicken along the way;
And life grows sadder, but love grows stronger
For those who walk with us day by day.

The tear comes quicker, the laugh comes slower;
The courage is lesser to do and dare;
And the tide of joy in the heart falls lower,
And seldom covers the reefs of care.

But all true things in the world seem truer,
And the better things of earth seem best,
And friends are dearer, as friends are fewer,
And love is all as our sun dips west.

Day had awakened all things that be,
The lark, and the thrush, and the swallow free,
And the milkmaid's song, and the mower's scythe,
And the matin bell and the mountain bee:
Fireflies were quenched on the dewy corn,
Glowworms went out, on the river's brim,
Like lamps which a student forgets to trim:
The beetle forgot to wind his horn,
The crickets were still in the meadow and hill:
Like a flock of rooks at a farmer's gun,
Night's dreams and terrors, every one,
Fled from the brains which are its prey,
From the lamp's death to the morning ray.

1. Come all you bold Canadians, I'd have you lend an
ear, Concerning a fine ditty that would make your courage
cheer, Concerning an engagement that we had at Sandwich
town; The courage of those Yankee boys so lately we pulled down.

2 There was a bold commander, brave General Brock by name,
Took shipping at Niagara and down to York he came.
He says, “My gallant heroes, if you'll come along with me,
We'll fight those proud Yankees in the west of Canaday!”

3 'Twas thus we repliéd: “Along with you we'll go.
Our knapsacks we will shoulder without any more ado.

A buxom young fellow from London came down
To set up his trade in Ramsbottom town;
They asked who he was and he answered them right,
‘I belong to a family called “Nine times a night”.’

A buxom young widow who still wore her weeds,
Whose husband had left her her riches and deeds,
Resolvèd she was by her conjugal right,
To fill up her chisum with nine times a night.

She ordered her waiting maids, Betty and Nan,
To keep a lookout for that wonderful man,
And whenever they saw him appear in their sight,
To bring her glad tidings of nine times a night.

But a little while ago
All the ground was white with snow;
Trees and shrubs were dry and bare,
Not a sign of life was there;
Now the buds and leaves are seen,
Now the fields are fresh and green,
Pretty birds are on the wing,
With a merry song they sing!
There's new life in everything!
How I love the pleasant spring!

Blue, dew-drenched
these birds come
carried to you from my body by the wind
they come disappear dwell
Open up sister, the dew has soaked me
in its age-long night
the ringing sound of water
the silence of the sea
warmth of blue coastlines
and the rustle of birds
stealing across my body
have all left me
Will you live in my life like a red lily
that recites one page for the sea
and another for the fire?
You burn
Here is my body
It groans it comes it begins
possessing gardens for the fire and the rain
a sorrow of leaves around you