Robin Lee
A Ballad founded on a tradition still preserved at Salcombe Regis, Devon.
" O, HEARD ye not the night-wind's roar
How in his rage he swept the cove?
O, father, hie thee to the shore,
My heart is shuddering for my love. "
" Cease, daughter, cease thine idle fears,
Far off in port he safely sleeps;
And now, behold, thy sighs and tears
Have rous'd thy child; — poor babe, he weeps.
" Sing, daughter, sing thy lullaby,
But when the babe is soothed to rest
Lend thy light step and eagle eye
To aid me in my fearful quest.
" For I will hie me to the coast,
Haply some founder'd bark lies there,
Or some poor seaman, tempest tost,
For my son's sake demands my care! "
She listen'd as his footsteps part,
She listen'd with a stifled sigh;
Then to her child with heavy heart
She turn'd and sang her lullaby.
" O, hush thee, poor baby, I like not thy moan,
Thou need'st not weep, though thy father be gone;
The wild winds have borne thy father afar,
To ride o'er the waves, and to join the war.
" O, it dwells on my heart how he smiled and sighed,
When he tore him away from his love-lorn bride;
Bitter the smile, and boding the sigh,
And the parting kiss was agony.
" He said, " My love, O think on me
When thou singest thy darling's lullaby;"
And all too well have I kept his 'hest,
For my sighs oft waken thee on my breast.
" But see, how my lovely one smiles in sleep!
O, mayst thou never wake to weep!
O, when will such joy as now thou'rt dreaming,
Upon this darken'd heart be gleaming? "
Soft was the mother's parting kiss,
But mingled with a bitter tear;
So softly sweet his dream of bliss,
So bitter sad her dream of fear.
All as she traced old Robin Lee
Along that wild and winding dell,
Responsive to the fitful sea,
Her bursting bosom rose and fell.
But when she reach'd the lonely strand,
For aye that bosom ceas'd to beat:
Her sire all speechless wrung her hand,
Her husband's corse lay at her feet!
Soft was her infant's sleep the while,
He dream'd his wonted dream of bliss,
But when he turn'd with waking smile
He met no more a mother's kiss.
Seest thou yon grey and woe-worn form
Slow wandering by the wintry sea,
Watching with haggard smile the storm?
That aged man is Robin Lee.
And that lorn boy, whose eager eye
Wanders so wild from wave to wave,
Sings a sad soothing lullaby
Each evening o'er his parents' grave.
" O, HEARD ye not the night-wind's roar
How in his rage he swept the cove?
O, father, hie thee to the shore,
My heart is shuddering for my love. "
" Cease, daughter, cease thine idle fears,
Far off in port he safely sleeps;
And now, behold, thy sighs and tears
Have rous'd thy child; — poor babe, he weeps.
" Sing, daughter, sing thy lullaby,
But when the babe is soothed to rest
Lend thy light step and eagle eye
To aid me in my fearful quest.
" For I will hie me to the coast,
Haply some founder'd bark lies there,
Or some poor seaman, tempest tost,
For my son's sake demands my care! "
She listen'd as his footsteps part,
She listen'd with a stifled sigh;
Then to her child with heavy heart
She turn'd and sang her lullaby.
" O, hush thee, poor baby, I like not thy moan,
Thou need'st not weep, though thy father be gone;
The wild winds have borne thy father afar,
To ride o'er the waves, and to join the war.
" O, it dwells on my heart how he smiled and sighed,
When he tore him away from his love-lorn bride;
Bitter the smile, and boding the sigh,
And the parting kiss was agony.
" He said, " My love, O think on me
When thou singest thy darling's lullaby;"
And all too well have I kept his 'hest,
For my sighs oft waken thee on my breast.
" But see, how my lovely one smiles in sleep!
O, mayst thou never wake to weep!
O, when will such joy as now thou'rt dreaming,
Upon this darken'd heart be gleaming? "
Soft was the mother's parting kiss,
But mingled with a bitter tear;
So softly sweet his dream of bliss,
So bitter sad her dream of fear.
All as she traced old Robin Lee
Along that wild and winding dell,
Responsive to the fitful sea,
Her bursting bosom rose and fell.
But when she reach'd the lonely strand,
For aye that bosom ceas'd to beat:
Her sire all speechless wrung her hand,
Her husband's corse lay at her feet!
Soft was her infant's sleep the while,
He dream'd his wonted dream of bliss,
But when he turn'd with waking smile
He met no more a mother's kiss.
Seest thou yon grey and woe-worn form
Slow wandering by the wintry sea,
Watching with haggard smile the storm?
That aged man is Robin Lee.
And that lorn boy, whose eager eye
Wanders so wild from wave to wave,
Sings a sad soothing lullaby
Each evening o'er his parents' grave.
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