The Auld Wife

PART I

The auld wife sat at her ivied door,
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
A thing she had frequently done before;
And her spectacles lay on her apron-d knees.

The piper he pip-d on the hill-top high,
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
Till the cow said, -I die,� and the goose asked -Why?�
And the dog said nothing, but search-d for fleas.

The farmer he strode through the square farmyard;
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
His last brew of ale was a trifle hard,
The connection of which with the plot one sees.

The farmer-s daughter hath frank blue eyes;
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
She hears the rooks caw in the windy skies,
As she sits at her lattice and shells her peas.

The farmer-s daughter hath ripe red lips;
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
If you try to approach her away she skips
Over tables and chairs with apparent ease.

The farmer-s daughter hath soft brown hair;
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
And I met with a ballad, I can-t say where,
Which wholly consisted of lines like these.

PART II

She sat with her hands -neath her dimpled cheeks,
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
And spake not a word. While a lady speaks
There is hope, but she did n-t even sneeze.

She sat with her hands -neath her crimson cheeks;
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
She gave up mending her father-s breeks,
And let the cat roll in her best chemise.

She sat with her hands -neath her burning cheeks,
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
And gaz-d at the piper for thirteen weeks;
Then she follow-d him out o-er the misty leas.

Her sheep follow-d her, as their tails did them,
(Butter and eggs and a pound of cheese)
And this song is consider-d a perfect gem;
And as to the meaning, it -s what you please.

Charles Stuart Calverley The copyright of the poems published here are belong to their poets. Internetpoem.com is a non-profit poetry portal. All information in here has been published only for educational and informational purposes.