Modryb Marya -- Aunt Mary
A Christmas Chant
Original Text:
Rev. R. S. Hawker, The Cornish Ballads And
other Poems (Oxford and London: James Parker, 1869): 39-40. Facsimile Reproduction
with an intro. by Kay J. Walter and Terence Allan Hoagwood. Delmar, N.Y.:
Scholars' Facsimiles, 1994. PR 4759 H9C6 1869a Robarts Library
1Now of all the trees by the king's highway,
2 Which do you love the best?
3O! the one that is green upon Christmas Day,
4 The bush with the bleeding breast.
5Now the holly with her drops of blood for me:
6For that is our dear Aunt Mary's tree.
7Its leaves are sweet with our Saviour's Name,
8 'Tis a plant that loves the poor:
9Summer and winter it shines the same,
10 Beside the cottage door.
11O! the holly with her drops of blood for me:
12For that is our kind Aunt Mary's tree.
13'Tis a bush that the birds will never leave:
14 They sing in it all day long;
15But sweetest of all upon Christmas Eve,
16 Is to hear the robin's song.
17'Tis the merriest sound upon earth and sea:
18For it comes from our own Aunt Mary's tree.
19So of all that grow by the king's highway,
20 I love that tree the best;
21'Tis a bower for the birds upon Christmas Day,
22 The bush of the bleeding breast.
23O! the holly with her drops of blood for me:
24For that is our sweet Aunt Mary's tree.
Publication Start Year:
1853
Publication Notes:
C. E. Byles, The Life and Letters
of R. S. Hawker (John Lane, the Bodley Head, 1906): 252.
RPO poem Editors:
Ian Lancashire
RPO Edition:
2002
Rhyme:
Form: