The Widow's Croone

The Widow's Croone

Original Text
Poems of John Galt: A Selection, ed.. G. H. Needler (Toronto: Burns and MacEachern, 1954): 48.
1And maun I lanely spin the tow,
2    And ca’ the weary wheel,
3For cauld they lie,--where do they lie,
4    The winsome and the leil?
5Och hon! Och hon! my blithe gudeman
6    Lies deep aneath the wave,
7The Lord that made us frae the dust
8    I thought had power to save.
9My Willie!--he lay on my breast.
10    Wi’ mercy on his e’en,--
11Can I forget the bonnie bairn
12    That milket me yestreen?
13Cauld was the coal I had to blaw
14    When Robin sank at sea,
15For he but left the widow’s hope,
16    A wee, wee bairn wi’ me!
17Wi’ eydent hand and eye o’ woe
18    I ettled night and day;
19And when the Lord forgot our need
20    We grat, and tried to pray.
21Och hon! Och hon! he is awa,
22    My Willie he is gone;
23Oh, is he waff in some far land?
24    But God’s good will be done.
25May be he’s in the morning star,
26    That glints its sheen sae clear,
27The Lord be praised,--he’ll never ken
28    His helpless mother’s fear.
29I’m auld and frail, my basin’s toom,
30    An almous I maun quest, --
31Help me, sweet Death! to the kirkyard,
32    The holy place of rest!

Notes

1] croone: tune.
lanely: lonely.
tow: flax. Back to Line
4] leil: true. Back to Line
5] Och hon!: ochone, alas, oh woe.
gudeman: "goodman," husband. Back to Line
11] bairn: child. Back to Line
12] yestreen: yesterday evening. Back to Line
17] eydent: busy. Back to Line
18] ettled: laboured hard. Back to Line
20] grat: prayed. Back to Line
23] waff: sailed off. Back to Line
29] toom: empty. Back to Line
30] almous: alm-house, poor-house.
quest: seek. Back to Line
31] kirkyard: churchyard (cemetary). Back to Line
RPO poem Editors
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition
2011
Rhyme
abcb
Form
quatrains