Page:Poems Rossetti.djvu/71

Graceful as an ivy bough
 Born to cling and lean;
Thus she sat to sing and sew.

When she raised her lustrous eyes
 A beast peeped at the door;
When she downward cast her eyes
 A fish gasped on the floor;
When she turned away her eyes
 A bird perched on the sill,
Warbling out its heart of love,
 Warbling warbling still,
With pathetic pleadings low.

Light-foot May with Meggan
 Sought the choicest spot,
Clothed with thyme-alternate grass:
 Then, while day waxed hot,
Sat at ease to play and rest,
 A gracious rest and play;
The loveliest maidens near or far,
 When Margaret was away,
Who sat at home to sing and sew.

Sun-glow flushed their comely cheeks?
 Wind-play tossed their hair,
Creeping things among the grass
 Stroked them here and there;
Meggan piped a merry note,
 A fitful wayward lay,