English

Oh! The Pope o' Rome and the Pope o' Rome,
Ha! Ha! cried he, for Old England!
My faithful Legate, a word i' your ear —
Draw nigh, and I'll whisper, lest anyone hear;
Now, I want ye to go a few days from home
On a jaunt — and it's over The Water!

A good while since, and I ruled, you know, —
Ha! Ha! I ruled in Old England!
Fine times were they, when I had their Pence —
The amount flowing in was indeed immense —
For my will was law over high and low
In that charming Land, my Daughter.

A Little Child, the prophet said,
Shall lead them.
To the manger bed,
Where the old legend bids us go
To seek Thee, Little One, how slow
Our feet turn!
Ah! but dim to-day
And tangled for us is that way.
No angel voices from the sky
Carol Thy sweet nativity:
No star leads onward steadfast, bright,
For all our watching through the night.

Yet we are wondrous wise, they say.

Yea, near and far, we know to-day
Secrets the ages knew not: all
Earth's mysteries we unveil and call

We rise at sunrise,
We rest at sunset,
Dig wells and drink,
Till our field and eat; —
What is the strength of the emperor to us?

Where shall we find a refuge, noble friend,
For peace and freedom on this troubled earth?
The Century in tumult has its end,
And murder dogs the new one at its birth.

Burst are the links uniting land with land,
And ancient dignities and forms decline;
The rush of war the sea cannot withstand,
Nile cannot stem it, nor the hoary Rhine.

Two mighty nationalities contend
For the supreme possession of the world;
Others their hopes of freedom may suspend
While thunderbolts and tridents here are hurled.

Friend, one indeed can scarce believe
Twelve months are gone since Christmas Eve
Last brought my greeting to your door!
On swifter wings than once he bore
Surely old Time escapes us!

Well,
'Tis but an idle thing to dwell
In wailing voice of fond regret
On radiant blossoms hardly set
Ere from our gaze they're snatched away:
On what brief space the longest day
Vouchsafes for all our fancy schemes:
Or, when youth's lost her coloured dreams
Of life's immensity, how soon
The hastening hours lead on the noon,

Good year,
Much wheat much rice,
We have high barns,
Millions suffice

Make wine, make brew,
To ancestors
Honor all rites
That they bless us.

Once Wisdom dwelt in the great folio'd tome,
While Friendship through a pocket-book might work;
But now that knowledge takes so little room.
And floats in almanacs, as light as cork,
This mighty house, good man, thou dost extend
In hospitality to every friend.
Dost thou not fear — forgive me if I ask —
Their amiability to overtask?

Of inexhaustible charm is the youthful beauty of nature,
And no less are the charms of inexhaustible art.
Hail, esteemed old man, for thine heart doth equally cherish
Both, and so thy life is a perennial youth.

Skeleton schooner, looming strange on the far horizon's rim,
Wasted and blurred by the bitter cold, all ghastly and pallid and dim,
Whither goest thou, stiff and stark? What harbor locked in the frost
Steerest thou for, through the freezing spray by the hissing breakers tossed?

Wherefore strivest thou, fighting still to plough thy perilous way
Against the might of the fierce northwest so woefully, night and day?
Turn thee and spread thy wings so white, and fly to the tropic seas,

Tears in those eyes of blue!
Sparks of fiery dew,
Scornful lightnings that flash
'Twixt dusky lash and lash!
Never from sorrow grew
That rain in my heaven of blue.

Full of disdain are you,
Scorn for these fetters new.
Sweet, you were free too long!
Love is a master strong,
Hard are the words but true,
None may his chain undo.

Nay! Let your heart shine through
And soften those eyes of blue!
Glide from your chilly height,
Banish your anger bright;
Fairest, be gentlest, too,