William Stanley Braithwaite, ed. The Book of Restoration Verse. 1910.
A Pastoral Song: As I was sitting on the grassAnonymous
A
Within a silent shady grove,
I overheard a country lass,
Was there bewailing of her love.
‘My love,’ says she,
‘Is ta’en from me;
And to the wars is prest and gone;
He’s marched away,
And gone to sea;
Alack! alack! and well-a-day!
And left me here alone.
There’s none that’s like him in the town;
He gently takes me by the hand,
And gave me many a green gown.
With kisses sweet
He would me treat,
And often sing a roundelay;
And sometimes smile,
Then chat awhile,
So that we might the time beguile
A life-long summer’s day.
The earliest up of all the rest;
With scarves and ribbons then would be
Of all the crew, he finest drest.
With Morris bells
And fine things else:
But when the pipe began to play
He danced so well,
I heard them tell,
That he did all the rest excel,
And bore the bell away.
Was too too harsh, and too severe;
I gently on my knees did pray
That he my Love would then forbear.
I offered too
A breeding ewe
And chilver-lamb that were my own;
Do what I could,
It did no good,
He left me in this pensive mood,
To sigh, and make my moan.’