Page:Oxford Book of English Verse 1250-1918.djvu/449

 ANONYMOUS

'And see ye not yon bonny road

That winds about the fernie brae? That is the Road to fair Elfland,

Where thou and I this night maun gae.

'But, Thomas, ye sail haud your tongue,

Whatever ye may hear or see ; For speak ye word in Elfyn-land,

Ye'll ne'er win back to your am countrie.'

they rade on, and farther on,

And they waded rivers abune the knee; And they saw neither sun nor moon, But they heard the roaring of the sea.

It was mirk, mirk night, there was nae starlight, They waded thro' red blude to the knee;

For a' the bludc that 5 s shed on the earth Rins thiough the springs o' that countrie.

Sync they came to a garden green,

And she pu'd an apple frac a tree: 'Take this for thy wages, true Thomas,

It will give thee the tongue that can never lee.'

'My tongue is my ain,' true Thomas he said; C A gudely gift ye wad gic to me I

1 neither dought to buy or sell

At fair or trybt where I might be.

Nor ask of grace from fair ladye!'
 * I dought neither speak to prince or peer,

'Now haud thy peace, Thomas,' she said, 'For as I say, so must it be.' dought] could.

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