Page images
PDF
EPUB

Parson's a bean loikewoise, an' a sittin' ere o' my bed.

"The Amoighty's a taakin o' you to 'issén, my friend," a said,

An' a towd ma my sins, an' 's toithe were due, an' I gied it in hond;

I done moy duty boy 'um, as I 'a done boy the lond.

Larn'd a ma' bea. I reckons I 'annot sa mooch to larn.

But a cast oop, thot a did, 'bout Bessy Marris's barne.

Thaw a knaws I hallus voated wi' Squoire an' choorch an' staate,

An' i' the woost o' toimes I wur niver agin the raate.

An' I hallus coom'd to 's choorch afoor moy Sally wur dead,

An' 'eard 'um a bummin' awaay loike a buzzard-clock 2 ower my 'ead, An' I niver knaw'd whot a mean'd but I thowt a 'ad summut to saay, An' I thowt a said whot a owt to 'a said, an' I coom'd awaay.

Bessy Marris's barne! tha knaws she laaid it to mea.

Mowt a bean, mayhap, for she wur a bad un, shea.

'Siver, I kep 'um, I kep 'um, my lass, tha mun understond;

I done moy duty boy 'um, as I 'a done. boy the lond.

But Parson a cooms an' a goas, an' a says it easy an' freea :

"The Amoighty 's a taakin o' you to 'issén, my friend," says 'ea.

I weant saay men be loiars, thaw summun said it in 'aaste;

But 'e reads wonn sarmin a weeak, an' I 'a stubb'd Thurnaby waaste.

D' ya moind the waaste, my lass? naw, naw, tha was not born then;

Theer wur a boggle in it, I often 'eard 'um mysén;

ou as in hour. [The notes on this poem are Tennyson's.] ? Cockchafer,

[blocks in formation]

Loook 'ow quoloty smoiles when they

seeas ma a passin' boy,

Says to thessén, naw doubt, "What a man a bea sewer-loy!" Fur they knaws what I bean to Squoire sin' fust a coom'd to the 'All;

I done moy duty by Squoire an' I done moy duty boy hall.

Squoire 's i' Lunnon, an' summun I reckons 'ull 'a to wroite,

For whoa 's to howd the lond ater mea thot muddles ma quoit; Sartin-sewer I bea thot a weant niver give it to Joanes,

Naw, nor a moant to Robins rembles the stoans.

a niver

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

And the night went down, and the sun smiled out far over the summer sea, And the Spanish fleet with broken sides lay round us all in a ring;

But they dared not touch us again, for they fear'd that we still could sting,

So they watch'd what the end would be.
And we had not fought them in vain,
But in perilous plight were we,

Having that within her womb that had Seeing forty of our poor hundred were

left her ill content;

slain,

And half of the rest of us maim'd for life In the crash of the cannonades and the desperate strife;

And the sick men down in the hold were most of them stark and cold, And the pikes were all broken or bent, and the powder was all of it spent ; And the masts and the rigging were lying over the side;

But Sir Richard cried in his English pride: "We have fought such a fight for a day and a night

As may never be fought again!
We have won great glory, my men
And a day less or more

At sea or ashore,

[blocks in formation]

And the stately Spanish men to their flagship bore him then,

Where they laid him by the mast, old
Sir Richard caught at last,
And they praised him to his face with
their courtly foreign grace;

But he rose upon their decks, and he cried:

"I have fought for Queen and Faith like a valiant man and true;

I have only done my duty as a man is bound to do.

With a joyful spirit I Sir Richard Grenville die!"

And he fell upon their decks, and he died.

XIV

And they stared at the dead that had been so valiant and true,

And had holden the power and glory of Spain so cheap

That he dared her with one little ship and his English few; Was he devil or man?

aught they knew,

He was devil for

But they sank his body with honour down into the deep.

And they mann'd the Revenge with a swarthier alien crew,

And away she sail'd with her loss and long'd for her own;

When a wind from the lands they had ruin'd awoke from sleep,

And the water began to heave and the weather to moan,

And or ever that evening ended a great gale blew,

And a wave like the wave that is raised by an earthquake grew,

Till it smote on their hulls and their sails and their masts and their flags, And the whole sea plunged and fell on the shot-shatter'd navy of Spain, And the little Revenge herself went down by the island crags

To be lost evermore in the main.

CROSSING THE BAR

SUNSET and evening star,

And one clear call for me! And may there be no moaning of the bar, When I put out to sea,

But such a tide as moving seems asleep, Too full for sound and foam,

When that which drew from out the boundless deep

Turns again home.

Twilight and evening bell,

And after that the dark!

And may there be no sadness of farewell, When I embark;

For tho' from out our bourne of Time and Place

The flood may bear me far,

I hope to see my Pilot face to face
When I have crossed the bar.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]
« EelmineJätka »