YE HAUNTED MAYDE.

YE HAUNTED MAYDE.
441.1

I, soe whyte, soe wearie and sad,
I, soe worn wyth wysdom o’ books,
Loved hys lass, soc wynsome and glad.-
Loved hys mayde wyth ye Apryl looks:
John O’Neil’s lyttel red-cheeked mayde,-
Under ye apple’s shade.

Of Weston Grange they call me Sage,
Ralph, ye learned reader of scrypt;
But oft and oft ye mustie page
Was hyd by dreame o’ her, -red-lypped:-
And she knew not,-O’Neil’s sweete mayde,
Under ye apple’s shade!

John O’Neil he loved her, I ween,- .
Blue her eyes and yellow her hayre;
Fayrest lass o’ ye village greene,-
But for ye strange, strange tales they bear
John O’Neil’s lyttel red-cheeked mayde,
Under ye apple’s shade.

“She rides a broome, she meets ye Deil,
She mixes charmes by candle lyght.”
“That lass o’ John’s?”
“Aye, ’tis na weel.- She sleeps by daye, and flitts by night!”
Such are ye words ye townfolks sayde.-
Poore lyttel simple mayde!

“John O’Neil’s lass turns to a cat!”
Ah, sweete mayde, wyth ye eyes of blue,
You ye cronies are poynting at,
Will they e’en be ye death o’ you?
John O’Neil’s lyttel haunted mayde,-
Under ye apple’s shade.

I, soe worne, soe wearie and olde-
I, ye scholar of Weston Grange,
Conned my parchment;-never was told
Until too late-oh,
God, how strange
That such like words were whyspered and sa
Of her, a childish mayde! darksome daye!

Ah, mee, ah, mee, one darksome daye!-
I heard ye cries from village greene,-
I asked o’ blacksmyth, on my way,
What all ye shouts and noyse did mean?
“Faith, i’ village they’ve burnt a mayde,-
Her was a wytch!” he sayde.
* * * * *
They call mee
“Wisard o’ Weston Grange,”
They flee from mee in field or pathe;-
Aye, for I cursed them, deep and strange,
I called on God in fearful wrathe!
And a winde passed out of ye apple’s shade, .
Ye soule of ye haunted mayde!
-JOHN M. WARING.