Bliss Carman, et al., eds. The World’s Best Poetry. 1904.
Humorous Poems: I. WomanThe Well of St. Keyne
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 does an ash-tree grow,
And a willow from the bank above
Droops to the water below.
Pleasant it was to his eye,
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 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.
In Cornwall ever been?
For an if she have, I ’ll venture my life
She has drunk of the Well of St. Keyne.”
The stranger he made reply;
“But that my draught should be 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.
Heaven help the husband then!”
The stranger stooped to the Well of St. Keyne,
And drank of the waters again.
He to the countryman said.
But the countryman 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.”