[Page 26]

COLIN AND LUCY.

By the Same.
I.
1 OF Leinster fam'd for maidens fair,
2 Bright LUCY was the grace;
3 Nor e'er did Liffy's limpid stream
4 Reflect a fairer face;
II.
5 'Till luckless love and pining care
6 Impair'd her rosy hue,
7 Her dainty lip, her damask check,
8 And eyes of glossy blue.
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III.
9 Ah! have you seen a lily pale
10 When beating rains descend?
11 So droop'd this slow-consuming maid,
12 Her life now near its end.
IV.
13 By LUCY warn'd, of flatt'ring swains
14 Take heed, ye easy fair;
15 Of vengeance due to broken vows,
16 Ye flatt'ring swains beware!
V.
17 Three times all in the dead of night,
18 A bell was heard to ring;
19 And at her window shrieking thrice,
20 The raven flap'd his wing.
VI.
21 Full well the love-lorn maiden knew
22 The solemn boding sound,
23 And thus in dying words bespake
24 The virgins weeping round.
VII.
25 "I hear a voice you cannot hear,
26 "That cries, I must not stay;
27 "I see a hand you cannot see,
28 "That beckons me away.
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VIII.
29 "Of a false swain and broken heart,
30 "In early youth I die;
31 "Am I to blame, because the bride
32 "Is twice as rich as I?
IX.
33 "Ah, COLIN, give not her thy vows,
34 "Vows due to me alone!
35 "Nor thou, rash girl, receive his kiss,
36 "Nor think him all thy own!
X.
37 "To-morrow in the church to wed
38 "Impatient both prepare:
39 "But know, false man, and know, fond maid,
40 "Poor LUCY will be there.
XI.
41 "Then bear my corse, ye comrades dear,
42 "The bridegroom blithe to meet;
43 "He in his wedding-trim so gay,
44 "I in my winding sheet. "
XII.
45 She spake, she dy'd, her corse was borne,
46 The bridegroom blithe to meet;
47 He in his wedding trim so gay,
48 She in her winding sheet.
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XIII.
49 What then were COLIN'S dreadful thoughts;
50 How were these nuptials kept?
51 The bride-men flock'd round LUCY dead,
52 And all the village wept.
XIV.
53 Compassion, shame, remorse, despair,
54 At once his bosom swell:
55 The damps of death bedew'd his brow,
56 He groan'd, he shook, he fell.
XV.
57 From the vain bride, a bride no more,
58 The varying crimson fled;
59 When, stretch'd beside her rival's corse,
60 She saw her lover dead.
XVI.
61 He to his LUCY'S new-made grave,
62 Convey'd by trembling swains,
63 In the same mould, beneath one sod,
64 For-ever now remains.
XVII.
65 Oft at this place the constant hind
66 And plighted maid are seen;
67 With garlands gay, and true-love knots
68 They deck the sacred green.
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XVIII.
69 But, swain forsworn, who'er thou art,
70 This hallow'd ground forbear!
71 Remember COLIN'S dreadful fate,
72 And fear to meet him there.

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Title (in Source Edition): COLIN AND LUCY.
Author: Thomas Tickell
Themes: sex; relations between the sexes; marriage; death
Genres: ballad metre; Chevy Chase stanza
References: DMI 21311

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Dodsley, Robert, 1703-1764. A Collection of Poems in Six Volumes. By Several Hands. Vol. I. London: printed by J. Hughs, for R. and J. Dodsley, 1763 [1st ed. 1758], pp. 26-30. 6v.: music; 8⁰. (ESTC T131163; OTA K104099.001) (Page images digitized by the Eighteenth-Century Poetry Archive from a copy in the archive's library.)

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The text has been typographically modernized, but without any silent modernization of spelling, capitalization, or punctuation. The source of the text is given and all editorial interventions have been recorded in textual notes. Based on the electronic text originally produced by the TCP project, this ECPA text has been edited to conform to the recommendations found in Level 5 of the Best Practices for TEI in Libraries version 4.0.0.