Ionica Part 16

Rise, rise, ye Devon folk!

Toss off the traitor's yoke, Peer through the rain and smoke, Look, look again!

Run down to Brixham pier-- Quick, quick, the Prince is near!

All the rights ye reckon dear He will maintain.

Chorus-- Welcome, sweet English rose!

Welcome, Dutch Roman nose!

Scatter, scatter all the Gospel's foes, William and Mary!

High over gulls and boats Bright, free the banner floats; Hearken, hear the clarion notes!

Lift hats and stare.

Courtiers who break the laws, Tame cats with velvet paws, Hypocrites with poisoned claws, Croppies, beware!

Trust, Sir, the western s.h.i.+res, Trust those who baffled Spain; We'll be hardy like our sires.

Down, Pope, again!

Off, off with sneak and thief!

We'll have an honest chief.

England is no Popish fief; Free kings shall reign.

SAPPHICS FOR A TUNE

MADE BY REQUEST OF A SONGSTRESS, AND REJECTED

Relics of battle dropt in sandy valley, Bugle that screamed a warning of surprise, Shreds of the colour torn before the rally, Jewel of troth-plight seen by dying eyes-- Welcome, dear tokens of the lad we mourn.

Tell how that day his faithful heart was leaping; Help me, who linger in the home forlorn, Throw me a rainbow on my endless weeping.

1885.

JOHNNIE OF BRAIDISLEE

A SECOND ATTEMPT, ACCEPTED

Down the burnside hurry thee, gentle mavis, Find the bothie, and flutter about the doorway.

Touch the lattice tenderly, bid my mother Fetch away Johnnie.

Mother, uprouse thee! many bitter arrows Out of one bosom gather, and for ever Pray for one resting in a chilly forest Under an oak tree.

Gentle mavis! hover about the window Where the sun s.h.i.+nes on happy things of home life, Bid the clansmen troop to the gory dingle.

Clansmen, avenge me!

Mother! oh, my mother! upon a cradle Woven of willows, with a bow beside me, Near the kirk of Durrisdeer, under yew boughs, Rock thy beloved.

1885.

EUROPA

May the foemen's wives, the foemen's children, Feel the kid leaping when he lifts the surge, Tumult of swart sea, and the reefs that shudder Under the scourge.

On such a day to the false bull Europa Trusted her snowy limbs; and courage failed her, Where the whales swarmed, the terror of sea-change and Treason a.s.sailed her.

For the meadow-fays had she duly laboured, Eager for flowers to bind at eventide; s.h.i.+mmering night revealed the stars, the billows, Nothing beside.

Brought to Crete, the realm of a hundred cities, "Oh, my sire! my duty!" she clamoured sadly.

"Oh, the forfeit! and oh, the girl unfathered, Wilfully, madly!

What sh.o.r.e is this, and what have I left behind me?

When a maid sins 'tis not enough to die.

Am I awake? or through the ivory gateway Cometh a lie?

Cometh a hollow fantasy to the guiltless?

Am I in dreamland? Was it best to wander Through the long waves, or better far to gather Rosebuds out yonder?

Now, were he driven within the reach of anger, Steel would I point against the villain steer, Grappling, rending the horns of the bull, the monster Lately so dear.

Shameless I left the homestead and the wors.h.i.+p, Shameless, 'fore h.e.l.l's mouth, wide agape, I pause.

Hear me, some G.o.d, and set me among the lions Stript for their jaws.

Ere on the cheek that is so fair to look on Swoop the grim fiends of hunger and decay, Tigers shall spring and raven, ere the sweetness Wither away.

Worthless Europa! cries the severed father, Why dost thou loiter, cling to life, and doat?

Hang on this rowan; hast thou not thy girdle Meet for thy throat?

Lo, the cliff, the precipice, edged for cleaving, Trust the quick wind, or take a leman's doom.

Live on and spin; thou wast a prince's daughter; Toil at the loom.

Pa.s.s beneath the hand of a foreign lady; Serve a proud rival." Lo, behind her back Slyly laughed Venus, and her archer minion Held the bow slack.

Then, the game played out, "Put away," she whispered, "Wrath and upbraiding, and the quarrel's heat, When the loathed bull surrenders horns, for riving, Low at your feet.

Bride of high Jove's majesty, bride unwitting, Cease from your sobbing; rise, your luck is rare.

Your name's the name which half the world divided Henceforth shall bear."

HYPERMNESTRA

Let me tell Lyde of wedding-law slighted, Penance of maidens and bootless task, Wasting of water down leaky cask, Crime in the prison-pit slowly requited.