PEADAR OG GOES COURTING by JAMES STEPHENS

Now that I am dressed I'll go
Down to where the roses blow,
I'll pluck a fair and fragrant one
And make my mother pin it on:
Now she's laughing, so am I --
Oh the blueness of the sky!

Down the street, turn to the right,
Round the corner out of sight;
Pass the church and out of town --
Dust does show on boots of brown,
I'd better brush them while I can
-- Step out, Peadar, be a man!

Here's a field and there's a stile,
Shall I jump it? wait a while,
Scale it gently, stretch a foot
Across the mud in that big rut
And I'm still clean -- faith, I'm not!
Get some grass and rub the spot.

Dodge those nettles! Here the stream,
Bubbling onward with a gleam
Steely white, and black, and grey,
Bends the rushes on its way --
What's that moving? It's a rat
Washing his whiskers; isn't he fat?

Here the cow with the crumpledy horn
Whisks her tail and looks forlorn
She wants a milkmaid bad I guess,
How her udders swell and press
Against her legs -- And here's some sheep;
And there's the shepherd, fast asleep.

This is a sad and lonely field,
Thistles are all that it can yield;
I'll cross it quick, nor look behind,
There's nothing in it but the wind:
And if those bandy-legged trees
Could talk they'd only curse or sneeze.

A sour, unhappy, sloppy place --
That boot's loose! I'll tie the lace
So, and jump this little ditch,
...Her father's really very rich:
He'll be angry -- There's a crow,
Solemn blackhead! Off you go!

There a big, grey, ancient ass
Is snoozing quiet in the grass;
He hears me coming, starts to rise,
Wags his big ears at the flies:
...What'll I say when -- There's a frog,
Go it, long-legs -- jig, jig-jog.

He'll be angry, say -- "Pooh, pooh,
Boy, you know not what you do!"
Shakespeare stuff and good advice,
Fat old duffer -- Those field mice
Have a good time playing round
Through the corn and underground.

But her mother is friends with mine,
She always asks us out to dine,
And dear Nora, curly head,
Loves me; so at least she said.
...Damn that ass's hee-hee-haw --
Was that a rabbit's tail I saw?

This is the house, Lord, I'm afraid!
A man does suffer for a maid.
...How will I start? The graining's new
On the door -- Oh pluck up, do.
Don't stand shivering there like that
...The knocker's funny -- Rat-tat-tat.

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