Maiden’s Affection

“BLACK is the night—an outcast lad Is wandering in our village, mother! Thy daughter’s heart is very sad, Sad even to death! He has no home: O give him ours, he has no other, And bid the lad no longer roam!” ‘Nay! daughter, let this outcast stray, He is a proud and city youth; Will ask for wine at break of day, And costly meats at eve, forsooth, And for his city-tutor’d head Will want a soft and stately bed.’

“O mother! In God’s name divine, Give the poor lad a shelter now: My eyes shall serve instead of wine, For costly meats my maiden brow. My neck shall be his honey comb: His bed the dewy grass shall be, And heaven his stately canopy. His head shall rest upon my arm. O mother! give the youth a home, And shelter, shelter him from harm.”