STRANGE are the ways of men,

And how his faceWoke to trill and caroletteAll the cages that were setAbout the place.In the tender morning lightAll around lay strange and brightAnd still and sweet,And the gray doves unafraidWent their morning promenadeAlong the street.

And kissing hands, in chorus sing:Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!To house and garden, field and lawn,The meadow-gates we swang upon,To pump and stable, tree and swing,Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!And fare you well for evermore,O ladder at the hayloft door,O hayloft where the cobwebs cling,Good-bye, good-bye, to everything!Crack goes the whip, and off we go;The trees and…

She gives me cream with all her might,To eat with apple-tart.She wanders lowing here and there,And yet she cannot stray,All in the pleasant open air,The pleasant light of day;And blown by all the winds that passAnd wet with all the showers,She walks among the meadow grassAnd eats the meadow flowers.

Clinkum-clank by stane and cairn,Weary fa’ their horse-shoe-airn!Loud on the causey, saft on the sand,Round they rade by the tail of the land;Round and up by the Bour-Tree Den,Weary fa’ the red-coat men!Aft hae I gane where they hae radeAnd straigled in the gowden brooms –Aft hae I gane, a saikless maid,And O! sae bonny…

And charging along like troops in a battleAll through the meadows the horses and cattle:All of the sights of the hill and the plainFly as thick as driving rain;And ever again, in the wink of an eye,Painted stations whistle by.Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,All by himself and gathering brambles;Here is a tramp…

Etches content thereon and makes it fair,Or constancy, and love, and makes it grand?