The Old Maids Story

Ay, many and many a year’s gone by,

Since the dawn of that day in spring,

When we met in the pine-woods, Harry and I,

And he gave me this golden ring.

I had lovers in plenty, of high degree,

Who wooed in my father’s hall;

But none were so noble and brave as he,

Though he was the scorn’d of all.

On the soft, green grass, where the shadows lay,

All fleck’d with the sun and dew,

With a ring and a kiss did we seal, that day,

Our vow to be leal and true.

‘Twas a life-long vow;-but they did not know-

And they thought not of love or pain;-

We met just once in the sleet and snow-

We were never to meet again!

He was sent away o’er the blank, wide sea,

And I, with my hopes and fears,

Had never a message to comfort me

For over a score of years.

They laugh’d at my heart, they paraded my hand,

But I answer’d them, cold and grim-

“If Harry ne’er comes to his native land,

They shall only belong to him.”

At last came a tale from the battle-field;-

And they were not scornful now.

The sentence of exile might be repealed-

They would honour our plighted vow!

They told how my Harry, like olden knights,

Had fought for his land and Queen;

Fought hard and well on the Alma heights,

Where the deadliest strife was seen.

They told how he fell in the fire and smoke,

And they gave me his things to keep;

They wonder’d why I never cried or spoke,-

But it was too late to weep.

Poetry Monster – Home

A few random poems:

External links

Bat’s Poetry Page – more poetry by Fledermaus

Talking Writing Monster’s Page –

Batty Writing – the bat’s idle chatter, thoughts, ideas and observations, all original, all fresh

Poems in English 

• Epitaph on my Ever Honoured Father by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph on John Rankine by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph on John Dove, Innkeeper by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph on John Busby, Esq., Tinwald Downs by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph on James Grieve by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph on Holy Willie by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph on Captain Lascelles by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph on a noted coxcomb by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph on a Noisy Polemic by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph on a Henpecked Squire by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph for William Nicol, High School, Edinburgh by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph for Mr. William Michie, Schoolmaster by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph for Mr. Walter Riddell by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph for Mr. W. Cruickshank by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph for Mr. Gabriel Richardson, Brewer by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph for James Smith by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epitaph for Gavin Hamilton, Esq. by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epistle to William Simson by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epistle to the Rev. John M’Math by Robert Burns by Robert Burns
• Epistle to Robert Graham, Esq., of Fintry by Robert Burns by Robert Burns

More external links (open in a new tab):

Russian Commerce Agency

Dealing Monster

Doska or the Board – write anything

Search engines:

Yandex – the best search engine for searches in Russian (and the best overall image search engine, in any language, anywhere)

Qwant – the best search engine for searches in French, German as well as Romance and Germanic languages.

Ecosia – a search engine that supposedly… plants trees

Duckduckgo – the real alternative and a search engine that actually works. Without much censorship or partisan politics.

Yahoo– yes, it’s still around, amazingly, miraculously, incredibly, but now it seems to be powered by Bing.

 

Parallel Translations of Poetry

Poems by Author and Category

The Poetry Repository – an online library of poems, poetry, verse and poetic works