KateReprinted without alteration among theJuveniliain 1895.I know her by her angry air,Her brightblack eyes, her brightblack hair,Her rapid laughters wild and shrill,As laughter of the woodpeckerFrom the bosom of a hill.’Tis Kate—she sayeth what she will;For Kate hath an unbridled tongue,Clear as the twanging of a harp.Her heart is like a throbbing star.Kate hath a spirit ever strungLike a new bow, and bright and sharpAs edges of the scymetar.Whence shall she take a fitting mate?For Kate no common love will feel;My woman-soldier, gallant Kate,As pure and true as blades of steel.Kate saith “the world is void of might”.Kate saith “the men are gilded flies”.Kate snaps her fingers at my vows;Kate will not hear of lover’s sighs.I would I were an armèd knight,Far famed for wellwon enterprise,And wearing on my swarthy browsThe garland of new-wreathed emprise:For in a moment I would pierceThe blackest files of clanging fight,And strongly strike to left and right,In dreaming of my lady’s eyes.Oh! Kate loves well the bold and fierce;But none are bold enough for Kate,She cannot find a fitting mate.
Reprinted without alteration among theJuveniliain 1895.
I know her by her angry air,Her brightblack eyes, her brightblack hair,Her rapid laughters wild and shrill,As laughter of the woodpeckerFrom the bosom of a hill.’Tis Kate—she sayeth what she will;For Kate hath an unbridled tongue,Clear as the twanging of a harp.Her heart is like a throbbing star.Kate hath a spirit ever strungLike a new bow, and bright and sharpAs edges of the scymetar.Whence shall she take a fitting mate?For Kate no common love will feel;My woman-soldier, gallant Kate,As pure and true as blades of steel.Kate saith “the world is void of might”.Kate saith “the men are gilded flies”.Kate snaps her fingers at my vows;Kate will not hear of lover’s sighs.I would I were an armèd knight,Far famed for wellwon enterprise,And wearing on my swarthy browsThe garland of new-wreathed emprise:For in a moment I would pierceThe blackest files of clanging fight,And strongly strike to left and right,In dreaming of my lady’s eyes.Oh! Kate loves well the bold and fierce;But none are bold enough for Kate,She cannot find a fitting mate.