THE PLAYER QUEEN
21 lines✦
_Song from an Unfinished Play_) My mother dandled me and sang,'How young it is, how young!'And made a golden cradleThat on a willow swung. 'He went away,' my mother sang,'When I was brought to bed,'And all the while her needle pulledThe gold and silver thread. She pulled the thread and bit the threadAnd made a golden gown,And wept because she had dreamt that IWas born to wear a crown. 'When she was got,' my mother sang,'I heard a sea-mew cry,And saw a flake of the yellow foamThat dropped upon my thigh.' How therefore could she help but braidThe gold into my hair,And dream that I should carryThe golden top of care?
✦