[28. The Daemon Lover]
I
‘O where hae ye been, my long, long love,
These seven long years and more?’—
‘O I’m come to seek my former vows,
That ye promised me before.’—
II
‘Awa’ wi’ your former vows,’ she says,
‘For they will breed but strife;
Awa’ wi’ your former vows,’ she says,
‘For I am become a wife.
III
‘I am married to a ship-carpenter,
A ship-carpenter he’s bound;
I wadna he kenn’d my mind this nicht
For twice five hundred pound.’
IV
He turn’d him round and round about,
And the tear blinded his e’e:
‘I wad never hae trodden on Irish ground
If it hadna been for thee.