THE BRAES OF YARROW.
"Thy braes were bonny, Yarrow stream!
When first on them I met my lover,
Thy braes how dreary, Yarrow stream!
When now thy waves his body cover!
For ever now, O Yarrow stream!
Thou art to me a stream of sorrow;
For never on thy banks shall I
Behold my love, the flower of Yarrow.
"He promised me a milk-white steed,
To bear me to his father's bowers;
He promised me a little page,
To 'squire me to his father's towers;
He promised me a wedding ring,—
The wedding day was fix'd to-morrow;—
Now he is wedded to his grave,
Alas, his watery grave, in Yarrow!
"Sweet were his words when last we met;
My passion I as freely told him!
Clasp'd in his arms, I little thought
That I should never more behold him!
Scarce was he gone, I saw his ghost;
It vanish'd with a shriek of sorrow;
Thrice did the water-wraith ascend,
And gave a doleful groan thro' Yarrow!
"His mother from the window look'd,
With all the longing of a mother;
His little sister weeping walk'd
The green-wood path to meet her brother:
They sought him east, they sought him west,
They sought him all the forest through;
They only saw the cloud of night,
They only heard the roar of Yarrow!
"No longer from thy window look,
Thou hast no son, thou tender mother;
No longer walk thou lovely maid;
Alas, thou hast no more a brother!
No longer seek him east or west,
And search no more the forest through;
For wandering in the night so dark,
He fell a lifeless corse in Yarrow.
"The tear shall never leave my cheek,
No other youth shall be my marrow;[9]
I'll seek thy body in the stream,
And then with thee I'll sleep in Yarrow."
The tear did never leave her cheek,
No other youth became her marrow;
She found his body in the stream,
And now with him she sleeps in Yarrow.