"GREGORY," his dam would chide, "Where could one find smaller? Why, the kneading-trough outside Is two inches taller! Though apprentices are sought On the land and sea, None would give your suit a thought; You're too weak and wee, my bonny; You're too weak and wee. Jesu Domine!" "Gad," the merry Captain said, "Pigmy, I'll be sworn, Once aboard you'd soon be dead. Harkee, Peppercorn, Though you have a waggish look, Who would ever see You as swab or billy-cook? You're too weak and wee, my bonny; You're too weak and wee. Jesu Domine!" At the Palace of Versailles He besought the King: "Sire, a lad of Cornouailles Comes a-soldiering!" But King Louis laughed aloud. "Guardsman would you be? Though with heart you're well endowed, You're too weak and wee, my bonny; You're too weak and wee. Jesu Domine!" Springtide broke in Brittany And the war had come. Jean Chouan, his friend, and he Marched behind the drum. Soon the bullets swept the plain, Missing Gregory, Singing in their high disdain: "He's too weak and wee, this Johnny; He's too weak and wee. Jesu Domine!" But a bullet found at last Rest between his eyes. Through the hole his spirit passed To the azure skies. There, Saint Peter, golden-keyed, Said: "Begone from me! Though for seraphs we have need, You're too weak and wee, my bonny; You're too weak and wee. Jesu Domine!" But the Lord our God above, Here and everywhere, Bared His riven heart of love, Hiding Gregory there; And the warden of the keys Sank down upon his knee When he heard the voice that spake In distant Galilee: "Whoso receiveth one of these In sooth receiveth Me!" "Jesu Domine!" | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...BALLAD by CHARLES STUART CALVERLEY THE RIGHT TO DIE by PAUL LAURENCE DUNBAR THE BALLAD OF EAST AND WEST by RUDYARD KIPLING A TERRIBLE INFANT by FREDERICK LOCKER-LAMPSON SING-SONG; A NURSERY RHYME BOOK: 105 by CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI |