Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, ed. Poems of Places: An Anthology in 31 Volumes.
England: Vols. I–IV. 1876–79.
The Well of St. Keyne
By Robert Southey (17741843)A
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.
And behind doth an ash-tree grow,
And a willow from the bank above
Droops to the water below.
Joyfully he drew nigh;
For from cock-crow he had been travelling,
And there was not a cloud in the sky.
For thirsty and hot was he;
And he sat down upon the bank,
Under the willow-tree.
At the well to fill his pail;
On the well-side he rested it,
And he bade the stranger hail.
“For, an if thou hast a wife,
The happiest draught thou hast drank this day
That ever thou didst in thy life.
Ever here in Cornwall been?
For, an if she have, I ’ll venture my life
She has drank of the Well of St. Keyne.”
The stranger he made reply;
“But that my draught should be the better for that,
I pray you answer me why.”
Drank of this crystal well;
And, before the angel summoned her,
She laid on the water a spell,—
Shall drink before his wife,
A happy man thenceforth is he,
For he shall be master for life;
God help the husband then!”
The stranger stooped to the Well of St. Keyne,
And drank of the water again.
He to the Cornish-man said;
But the Cornish-man smiled as the stranger spake,
And sheepishly shook his head:—
And left my wife in the porch;
But i’ faith she had been wiser than me,
For she took a bottle to church.”