Page:A New Zealand verse (1906).pdf/193

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Song.
157

XCII.

The Bonnie Harvest Moon.

Of all the seasons in the year,
I like the autumn best,
Ere winter comes with giant strength,
Of Flora gangs to rest;
When scented breezes fill the air,
When distant echoes croon,
And ower the hill peeps lazily
The bonnie harvest moon.

I like to hear the reapers’ sang.
To me ’tis sweeter far
Than a’ the sangs that e’er were sung
In praise of cruel war; . . .
When golden waves sweep o’er the fields,
When thistles shed their down,
And ower the hill peeps lazily
The bonnie harvest moon.

John Barr of Craigilee.

XCIII.

Song.

O merry be the ploughboy
That whistles o’er the lea,
And blithesome be the ploughboy
That comes at e’en to me;