Page:Fugitive Poetry 1600-1878.djvu/318
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NEW ENGLAND'S ANNOYANCES.
I'm lonely and forsaken now,
Unpitied and unblest;
Yet still I would not have thee know
How sorely I'm distressed.
I know you would not chide me, mother,
You would not give me blame;
But soothe me with your tender words,
And bid me hope again.
Unpitied and unblest;
Yet still I would not have thee know
How sorely I'm distressed.
I know you would not chide me, mother,
You would not give me blame;
But soothe me with your tender words,
And bid me hope again.
I would not have thee know, mother,
How brightest hopes decay;
The tempter with his baleful cup
Has dashed them all away.
And shame has left its venom sting
To rack with anguish wild;
Yet still I would not have thee know
The sorrows of thy child.
How brightest hopes decay;
The tempter with his baleful cup
Has dashed them all away.
And shame has left its venom sting
To rack with anguish wild;
Yet still I would not have thee know
The sorrows of thy child.
Oh, I have wandered far, mother,
Since I deserted thee,
And left thy trusting heart to break,
Beyond the deep blue sea.
Oh, mother, still I love thee well,
And long to hear thee speak,
And feel again thy balmy breath
Upon my careworn cheek.
Since I deserted thee,
And left thy trusting heart to break,
Beyond the deep blue sea.
Oh, mother, still I love thee well,
And long to hear thee speak,
And feel again thy balmy breath
Upon my careworn cheek.
But, ah! there is a thought, mother,
Pervades my bleeding breast,
That thy freed spirit may have flown
To its eternal rest;
And while I wipe the tear away,
There whispers in my ear
A voice that speaks of heaven and thee,
And bids me seek thee there.
Pervades my bleeding breast,
That thy freed spirit may have flown
To its eternal rest;
And while I wipe the tear away,
There whispers in my ear
A voice that speaks of heaven and thee,
And bids me seek thee there.
New England's Annoyances.
"Written towards 1630; the oldest known composition in English verse by an American colonist."—W. M. Rossetti.
New England's annoyances, ye that would know them,
Pray ponder these verses which briefly do show them,
Pray ponder these verses which briefly do show them,
The place where we live is a wilderness wood,
Where grass is much wanting that's fruitful and good;
Our mountains and hills and our valleys below
Being commonly covered with ice and with snow:
Where grass is much wanting that's fruitful and good;
Our mountains and hills and our valleys below
Being commonly covered with ice and with snow: