David Smart

My Betty

When my Betty comes out to play
Running along with her happy face,
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Across the misty fields at even tide
I hear the bells from by the riverside
And feel the chilly Autumn breezes blow
Like whispered memories of long ago.
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While the West wind blows so warm
In the dark before the dawn
Song birds sleep with heads beneath
Their wings.
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They loved their Scottish homelands
Their scented English glades
They loved their great Welsh mountains
And the Irish summer rains
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The Death of the Elven King


In the dawning of the days
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Hairy Mary

A farmer's young daughter named Mary,
Whose legs were excessively hairy,
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To the Sun

Across the vale I see the setting sun:
The clouds are touched with golden flecks of fire
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Uncle Sid

I never knew my uncle Sid
He was my father's brother.
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Last night I dreamed that you were here,
Your beauty filled my eyes,
My arms enfolded you, my dear,
I did not hear your lies.
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Man, the spoiler, sets his hand
Against the sea, against the land.
Fills the air with noxious fume,
Crowds the earth till there's no room.
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Monstrous shapes against the splintered night
Black on black.

Pachydermous movement, ponderous, ponders.
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Across the deeps of space they marched,
Men in all their glory,
Second to none.
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Down into the deeps
The realm of everlasting night.
No day dawns
No sun sets
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I will go down to the sea-shore
And throw pebbles in the water
And none shall worry me.
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If only I could be a cat!
I'd watch the fire from on the mat
And have a chair in which to lie
And think not of the "how" or "why".
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Large clocks
Small clocks
Clocks that rhyme
Clocks that chime
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Great soft, shapeless lumps,
Full of knobs and full of bumps,
Much to big or much to small,
Some are short and some are tall,
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'Tis many long years since a'trav'ling I went
My boots became worn and my clothing was rent
And I knew not the reason why I should be sent.
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It must be forty years ago
That I first met my darling Flo.
She was a girl of just sixteen
I vowed that she would be my Queen.
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On the corners, in the square
You see them standing everywhere,
Bundles underneath their arms
Shouting out their wares, the charms
...