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Yorskhire Poems by Thomas Jefferson Monkman, part 21

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LYRICS by Thomas Jefferson Monkman, 1885:

Source=h:/!Genuki/RecordTranscriptions/YKS/YKSLyrics.txt


WHEN THE PALE-EYED MOON IS STEALING.

When the pale-eyed moon is stealing,
    Slowly through the azure deeps,
With her starry train revealing
    Nature as she peaceful sleeps.

When the noon of bight is nigh, love,
    And bright orbs celestial shine,
Then on wings of Cupid fly, love,
    And every orb shall pale at thine.

Bring with thee thy sweet guitar,
    Let thy music charm the night,
Till echo bears the tones afar,
    And fills the welkin with delight.

Then, entranced, the starry hour,
    Shall behold thy grace divine ;
O, swift hie to the greenwood bower
    And every star thou shalt outshine.


"IT IS NOT ALWAYS MAY."

It is not always May, love,
    It is not always May,
The sun is shining bright, love,
    With warm and. golden ray;
Go find your ruby hood, love,
And let us thro' the wood, love,
    Far away, far away,
Where hedges are aglow
With blossoms all a-row
    Of the May,
Charming May ! glorious May !

Birds are in the trees, Nell,
Balm is in the breeze, Nell,
Busy are the bees, Nell,
Over all the leas, Nell,
    Worshipping the May;
Then why should you delay, love,
When Nature's face is gay, love,
    So don your ruby hood,
    And let us thro' the wood,
Far away, far away.

It is not always May, Nell,
    It is not always May,
When merry birds are gay, Nell,
    And chant on every spray ;
Let us wander by the mill,
Thro' the vale, near Hotham hill,

Where the cascade and the rill
With their voices sweetly trill
    A paean to the May ;
And the violets at your feet
Shall with smiling fragrance greet
    All the way, all the way ;
Where the plough-lad on the lea,
And the lark in cloudland free,
    Sing of May., charming May.

It is not always May, Nell,
    It is not always May,
When wild flowers tempt the way, Nell,
    And shining brooklets play ;
Go find your ruby hood, love,
And let us thro' the wood, love,
    Far away, far away ;
A charm is in the air,
There is music everywhere,
And Nature's face is fair,
Besprinkled here and there
    With the May, Charming May.
No month is there so sweet
As the charming one we greet
    In our lay, in our lay,
And as we pass along,
We will honour it in song,
    Lovely May, charming May.


ONLY A NEWSPAPER BOY.

"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin."-
                        SHAKESPEARE.

Only a newspaper boy,
    With coat all tatter'd and torn ;
Only a newspaper boy,
    Sorrowful, sad, and forlorn.

Only a waif and a stray-
    Soil'd are his shoeless feet;
Only a waif and a stray
    Who trips along alley and street.

Only a newspaper boy,
    Treated with kicks and with scorn;
Only a newspaper boy,
    Toiling at even and morn.
                *        *
A young girl lies haggard and wan-
    The coppers he earns in the street
Are won by this motherless son
    For bread that his sister may eat.

"Billy," she says to the lad,
    "I know I can't live very long,
My heart it is heavy and sad,
    Tho' I've never done anything wrong.

"I can't see you starve in the street,
    Hunger is nothing to me,
Get a pair of warm boots to your feet
    With the coppers you carn, d'you sew?"

Only a newspaper boy,
    Treated with kicks and with scorn ;
Only a newspaper boy,
    With coat all tatter'd and torn.

Only a newspaper boy,
    Who wouldn't buy boots for his' feet ;
Only a newspaper boy,
    Who starves that his sister may eat.

Say, is not this newspaper lad,
    As noble, loving, and true
As the haughtiest blood in the land,
    Yea, even the boasted blue?


AN ILLEGIBLE SCRAWL.

There was a young lady of Paull,
Who lived in a very fine hall,
And wrote an illegible scrawl ;
        She epistled to Hull for muslin and tulle,
But the draper couldn't read it at all,
And instead sent a beautiful shawl ;
        The answer was cool, she dubb'd him a fool,
Did this charming young lady of Paull,
Who lived in a very fine hall,
And wrote an illegible scrawl.


COUPLETS.

GEMS OF GENIUS.
The mind can form a gem which flashes forth a light
That as far excels the diamond's as the day excels the night.

IN MEMORIAM.
A spirit's soar'd, and ta'en the wing;
We mourn thee, Brooke, O "Silver King."

GOD AND MAMMON.
"Gold has more worshippers than God."
Oh, Mammon, this is true and truly odd.

GOLD.
The one eternal greed for gain
Cuts liberty, and love, and even life in twain.

TIME'S VOLUME.
A generation in time's age
Is from a book a single page.

UP THE NILE.
When Wolseley and Gordon shake hands in Khartoum
The hills of old England will merrily boom.

COL. BURNABY.
England has lost a brave and noble son.
O, Burnaby, a glorious fame thou'st everlasting won.

THUNDER AND LIGHTNING.
"Wit is the lightning of the mind,"
Thunder the laughter that follows close behind.

O, BEE, WHERE IS THY STING ,
"Great events from little causes spring.-
A bumble bee, you know, can make a fellow sing.

THE PROMPTER'S VOICE.
A noble action is the sweetest prayer ;
God gives the heart and puts the prompter there.

Poems by Thomas Jefferson Monkman (1885)
Scanned by Graham Metcalf ©2003
OCRd and checked by Colin Hinson ©2003