Nell Barnes
Nell Barnes
Original Text
The Complete Poems of W. H. Davies, intro. by Osbert Sitwell (London: Jonathan Cape, 1963): 225. PR 6007 A8A17
1They lived apart for three long years,
2 Bill Barnes and Nell, his wife;
3He took his joy from other girls,
4 She led a wicked life.
5Yet ofttimes she would pass his shop,
6 With some strange man awhile;
7And, looking, meet her husband's frown
8 With her malicious smile.
9Until one day, when passing there,
10 She saw her man had gone;
11And when she saw the empty shop,
12 She fell down with a moan.
13And when she heard that he had gone
14 Five thousand miles away,
15And that she'd see his face no more,
16 She sickened from that day.
17To see his face was health and life,
18 And when it was denied,
19She could not eat, and broke her heart --
20 It was for love she died.
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2011
Rhyme
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