Page:The Spirit of the Nation.djvu/130

34 'Tis there—and forth she flies with glee

To join the circling band,

Whilst mirthful sounds of minstrelsy

Are heard throughout the land.

And fair Italia's Peasant Girl,

The Arno's banks beside,

With myrtle flowers that shine like pearl,

Will braid at eventide

Her raven locks; and to the sky,

With eyes of liquid light,

Look up and bid her lyre outsigh—

"Was ever land so bright?"

The Peasant Girl of England, see

With lip of rosy dye,

Beneath her sheltering cottage tree,

Smile on each passer by.

She looks on fields of yellow grain,

Inhales the bean-flower's scent,

And seems, amid the fertile plain,

An Image of content.

The Peasant Girl of Scotland goes

Across her Highland hill,

With cheek that emulates the rose,

And voice the skylark's thrill.

Her tartan plaid she folds around,

A many-coloured vest—

Type of what varied joys have found

A home in her kind breast.

The Peasant Girl of Ireland, she

Has left her cabin home,

Bearing white wreaths—what can it be

Invites her thus to roam?

Her eye has not the joyous ray

Should to her years belong;

And, as she wends her languid way,

She carols no sweet song.