Page:More English Fairy Tales.djvu/144



These pretty babes, with hand in hand,

Went wandering up and down;

But never more could see the man

Approaching from the town.

Their pretty lips with blackberries

Were all besmeared and dyed;

And when they saw the darksome night,

They sat them down and cried.

Thus wandered these poor innocents,

Till death did end their grief;

In one another's arms they died,

As wanting due relief:

No burial this pretty pair

From any man receives,

Till Robin Redbreast piously

Did cover them with leaves.

And now the heavy wrath of God

Upon their uncle fell;

Yea, fearful fiends did haunt his house,

His conscience felt an hell:

His barns were fired, his goods consumed,

His lands were barren made,

His cattle died within the field,

And nothing with him stayed.

And in a voyage to Portugal

Two of his sons did die;

And to conclude, himself was brought

To want and misery: