Rudyard Kipling (1865–1936). Verse: 1885–1918. 1922.
Brookland Road
I
I reckoned myself no fool—
Till I met with a maid on the Brookland Road,
That turned me back to school.
Where the liddle green lanterns shine—
O maids, I’ve done with ’ee all but one,
And she can never be mine!
With thunder duntin’ round,
And I see’d her face by the fairy light
That beats from off the ground.
She smiled and went away;
But when she’d gone my heart was broke
And my wits was clean astray.
Let be, O Brookland bells!
You’ll ring Old Goodman out of the sea,
Before I wed one else!
And was this thousand year;
But it shall turn to rich plough-land
Before I change my dear.
From autumn to the spring;
But it shall turn to high hill-ground
Before my bells do ring.
In the thunder and warm rain—
O, leave me look where my love goed,
And p’raps I’ll see her again!
Where the liddle green lanterns shine—
O maids, I’ve done with ’ee all but one,
And she can never be mine!