VIII.
THE PLEASURES OF MOTION.
He asked a shepherd who stood near:
"Why do these lads make merry here,
Why is their round so gay?"
"They dance about a violet sweet, a lad hath found to-day."
The drum, the harp, and fife, resounded round their play,
All were of heart elate,
Each dancing with his mate.
I, Nithart, led the row,
Once and again, around the violet to and fro.
Minnesinger, 13th century.
No. 62.
Ring Around the Rosie.
This little round, universally familiar in America, meets us again in Germany and Provence. After the transit of various languages, and thousands of miles, the song retains the same essential characteristics.
Ring a ring a rosie,
A bottle full of posie,
All the girls in our town,
Ring for little Josie.
New Bedford, Mass. (about 1790).
Another version:
Round the ring of roses,
Pots full of posies,
The one who stoops last
Shall tell whom she loves best.