Fuess and Stearns, comps. The Little Book of Society Verse. 1922.
By. Ernest DowsonSoli Cantare Periti Arcades
O
And it’s Colin I would be,
And many a rustic fairy
Should churn the milk with me.
And my flocks should follow me,
Piping a frolic measure
For Joan or Marjorie.
And I hate the London street;
But the country ways are cheery,
And country lanes are sweet.
Ye are over fine and nice,
I know where the country maid is,
Who needs not asking twice.
As ye mince about the Town;
But her feet go free in pattens,
If she wear a russet gown.
She shall milk my brown-eyed herds,
And the breasts beneath her bodice
Are whiter than her curds.
And it’s Colin I will be,
And it’s Joan that I will marry,
Or, haply, Marjorie.