Littell's Living Age/Volume 128/Issue 1653/Two Songs

by Dinah Craik

For works with similar titles, see Two Songs.

TWO SONGS.

BY THE AUTHOR OF "JOHN HALIFAX, GENTLEMAN."

I. - THE BOAT OF MY LOVER.

Gaelic Air – F'hir a bhata - "The Boat of my Lover."

O Boat of my lover, go softly, go safely;
⁠O boat of my lover, that bears him from me!
From the homes of the clachan, from the burn singing sweetly,
⁠From the loch and the mountain, that he'll never more see.

O boat of my lover, go softly, go safely;
⁠Thou bearest my soul with thee over the tide.
I said not a word, but my heart it was breaking,
⁠For life is so short, and the ocean so wide.

O boat of my lover, go softly, go safely;
⁠Though the dear voice is silent, the kind hand is gone:
But oh, love me, my lover! and I'll live till I find thee;
⁠Till our parting is over, and our dark days are done.

II. - DEEP IN THE VALLEY.

Welsh Air – "Waters of Elle."

Deep in the valley, afar from every beholder,
⁠In the May morning my true love came to me:
Silent we sate, her head upon my shoulder;
⁠Fondly we dreamed of the days about to be:
⁠Fondly we dreamed of the days so soon to be.

Deep in the valley, the rain falls colder and colder:
⁠Safely she sleeps beneath the churchyard tree:
Yet still I feel her head upon my shoulder,
⁠Yet still I dream of the days that could not be:
⁠Yet still I weep o'er the days that will not be.

Good Words.⁠