Idle Wenches

It was a jolly bed in sooth,
   Of oak as strong as Bable.
And there slept Kit and Sall and Ruth
   As sound as maids are able.

Ay -- three in one -- and there they dreamed,
   Their bright young eyes hid under;
Nor hearkened when the tempest streamed
   Nor recked the rumbling thunder.

For marvellous regions stayed they in,
   Each moon -- far from the other --
Ruth in her childhood, Kit in heaven,
   And Sall with ghost for lover.

But soon as ever sun shone sweet,
   And birds sang, Praise for rain, O!
Leapt out of bed three pairs of feet
   And danced on earth again, O!

Anon.

__________

   Editorial note: this text was transcribed in April 2003 by Richard M. Leveridge from Wenches and Wooers. 10 Poems. Illustrated by Emma Chichester Clark, London: Royal College of Art, 1983.

Version 2003-05-01.
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