I sleep so sound all night, mother, that I shall never
wake,
If you do not call me loud when the day begins to
break;
But I must gather knots of flowers and buds, and garlands
gay;
For I’m to be Queen o’ the May, mother,
I’m to be Queen o’ the May.
As I came up the valley, whom think ye should I see
But Robin leaning on the bridge beneath the hazel-tree?
He thought of that sharp look, mother, I gave him
yesterday,—
But I’m to be Queen o’ the May, mother,
I’m to be Queen o’ the May.
He thought I was a ghost, mother, for I was all in
white;
And I ran by him without speaking, like a flash of
light.
They call me cruel-hearted, but I care not what they
say,
For I’m to be Queen o’ the May, mother,
I’m to be Queen o’ the May.
They say he’s dying all for love,—but
that can never be;
They say his heart is breaking, mother,—what
is that to me?
There’s many a bolder lad’ll woo me any
summer day;
And I’m to be Queen o’the May, mother,
I’m to be Queen o’the May.
Little Effie shall go with me to-morrow to the green,
And you’ll be there, too, mother, to see me
made the Queen;
For the shepherd lads on every side’ll come
from far away;
And I’m to be Queen o’the May, mother,
I’m to be Queen o’the May.
The honeysuckle round the porch has woven its wavy
bowers,
And by the meadow-trenches blow the faint sweet cuckoo-flowers;
And the wild marsh-marigold shines like fire in swamps
and hollows gray;
And I’m to be Queen o’the May, mother,
I’m to be Queen o’the May.
The night-winds come and go, mother, upon the meadow-grass,
And the happy stars above them seem to brighten as
they pass;
There will not be a drop of rain the whole of the
livelong day;
And I’m to be Queen o’the May, mother,
I’m to be Queen o’the May.
All the valley, mother, ’ll be fresh and green
and still,
And the cowslip and the crowfoot are over all the
hill,
And the rivulet in the flowery dale’ll merrily
glance and play,
For I’m to be Queen o’the May, mother,
I’m to be Queen o’the May.
So you must wake and call me early, call me early,
mother dear;
To-morrow’ll be the happiest time of all the
glad new-year;
To-morrow’ll be of all the year the maddest,
merriest day,
For I’m to be Queen o’the May, mother,
I’m to be Queen o’the May.
NEW YEAR’S EVE.
If you’re waking, call me early, call me early,
mother dear,
For I would see the sun rise upon the glad new-year.
It is the last new-year that I shall ever see,—
Then you may lay me low i’ the mold, and think
no more of me.
To-night I saw the sun set,—he set and
left behind
The good old year, the dear old time, and all my peace
of mind;
And the new-year’s coming up, mother; but I
shall never see
The blossom on the blackthorn, the leaf upon the tree.