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,â? and the goose asked -Why?â?
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.
The Auld Wife
Charles Stuart Calverley
(1)
Poem topics: away, ballad, cat, dog, father, hair, hope, perfect, red, song, wife, blue, sheep, brown, door, hard, connection, square, lady, high, Print This Poem , Rhyme Scheme
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