23. Ringleted Youth of My Love

RINGLETED youth of my love,

With thy locks bound loosely behind thee,

You passed by the road above,

But you never came in to find me;

Where were the harm for you

If you came for a little to see me,

Your kiss is a wakening dew

Were I ever so ill or so dreamy.

If I had golden store

I would make a nice little boreen,

To lead straight up to his door,

The door of the house of my stóreen;

Hoping to God not to miss

The sound of his footfall in it,

I have waited so long for his kiss

That for days I have not slept a minute.

I thought, oh my love! you were so—

As the moon is, or the sun on a fountain,

And I thought after that you were snow,

The cold snow on the top of the mountain;

And I thought after that you were more

Like God’s lamp shining to find me,

Or the bright star of knowledge before,

And the star of knowledge behind me.

You promised me high-heeled shoes,

And satin and silk, my stóreen,

And to follow me, never to lose,

Though the ocean were round us roaring;

Like a bush in a gap in a wall

I am now left lonely without thee,

And this house I grow dead of, is all

That I see around or about me.