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Excerpt from book: " You should have wept her yesterday, Wasting upon her bed : But wherefore should you weep to-day That she is dead ? Lo, we who love weep not to-day, But crown her royal head. Let be these poppies that we strew, Your roses are too red : Let be these poppies, not for you Cut down and spread." MAIDEN-SONG. T ONG ago and long ago, ' And long ago still, There dwelt three merry maidens Upon a distant hill. One was tall Meggan, And one was dainty May, But one was fair Margaret, More fair than I can say, Long ago and long ago. When Meggan plucked the thorny rose, And when May pulled the brier, Half the birds would swoop to see, Half the beasts draw nigher; Half the fishes of the streams Would dart up to admire: But when Margaret plucked a flag-flowet Or poppy hot aflame, All the beasts and all the birds And all the fishes came To her hand more soft than snow. Strawberry leaves and May-dew In brisk morning air, Strawberry leaves and May-dew Make maidens fair. '' I go for strawberry leaves," Meggan said one day : " Fair Margaret can bide at home, But you come with me, May; Up the hill and down the hill, Along the winding way You and I are used to go." So these two fair sisters Went with innocent will Up the hill and down again, And round the homestead hill: While the fairest sat at home, Margaret like a queen, Like a blush-rose, like the moon In her heavenly sheen, Fragrant-breathed as milky cow Or field of blossoming bean, 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 ...