Page:Susan Py, or, Young Bichen's garland (1).pdf/3

(3) Then I would curb my roving youth,

no more to see a strange land.

O an’ I were free again now,

and my feet well set on the sea,

I would live in peace in my own country, and a foreign land I no more would see.

The savage Moor had but one daughter,

I wot her name was Susan Py,

She heard young Bichen make his moan,

at the prison-door as she past by.

O have ye any lands, she said,

or have you any money free,

Or have you any revenues,

to maintain a lady like me?

O I have land in fair England,

and I have estates two or three.

And likewise I have revenues,

to maintain a lady like thee.

O will you promise young Bichen, she says,

and keep your vow faithful to me,

That at the end of seven years

in fair England you’ll marry me ?

I’ll steal the keys from my father dear,

tho’ he keeps them most secretly,

I’ll risk my life for to save thine,

and set thee safe upon the sea.

She’s stolen the keys from her father,

from under the bed where they lay,