Margaret Letitia Josephine Kermode

“ Oie-vie, oie-vie, ma chree;
For He will have us in His Mind,
Who stilled the raging sea.
Fear not the dark’ning night,
For in His Hand we lie,
Who steers us through from dark to light
Oie-vie, ma veen, oie-vie! ”

“ Each evening brings them to our window view,
And every morning as the dawn grows white
They fly their careful business to pursue,
And thus secure from frost, or rain, or fright,
The gentle wrens keep house the winter through. ”

“ It'll be in the teens of years I'm livin' here alone,
An' the house is bare at me, too, like a ness when the birds is flown;
But the days is lonelier far pas' what it is in the night,
For then I'm stirrin' the bons till the house is full of light. ”

“ The little everin's nigh,
An' clearer shines the light upon
Those mansions in the sky;
An' surely through that level light
The very flowers shine more bright,
An' all things soften to the sight,
In the little everin'. ”

“ The little stream of Ballacowle.
It tumbles down the Glen
And hides beneath the lady-fern
To sparkle out again—
Then plunges underneath the road
To seek a devious way,
Where lost in quarry refuse now,
Its early cradle lay. ”

“ To sail upon the sea,
Unless you say one little word,
Sweet Etty of Rhenwee.
My father he will go his ways
And never heed or bother,
But Oh! My heart is failing when
I think upon the mother. ”

“ Called me his singing dove;
With him to please, the days sped fast—
What could I do but love?
And then! He wearied of my song
And lightly passed me by.
So, left alone to love and long—
What could I do but die? ”

“ O the cushag flower in a fairy bower
Would shine like a star of gold;
But when it grows in the farmer's close
'Tis a shocking weed, we're told.
Yet common things
May have their wings
To help our souls above ”

“ Watch their fierce brood through calm and storm;
And timid conies in the fern
Keep their soft younglings safe and warm.”
“And will not He who made them all
Watch o’er His little lost ones too,
And, maybe waited till this hour,
For us poor men His Will to do.” ”

“ But still the nestlings clung to that safe ledge.
Then from the clouds a radiant morning broke,
And suddenly the Glen was full of wings,
Tribe called to tribe, and quickly Nature spoke,
Launching the young amid the whirling rings,
Short flights, but daily lengthened, till we woke
To find them gone—our darling feathered things.
THE WRENS’ HOUSEKEEPING.
Low rolls November’s sun along the hill,
Dim grow the skies and early falls the dark,
No music now from blackbird, thrush, or lark ”

“ The lands that should have come to him
Were gone with stock and store.
They dug a little grave for him,
What was he wantin' more.
The trees that should have grown for him
Had vanished long before. ”

“ Till all the bones got up and joined
And set themselves to follow.
"No, no," we said, "not so," we said,
"Our ways are not together;
We'll take the road and go," we said
"Stay you and watch the weather." ”

“ Earey An open airy place. Faie Field near dwelling house. Garvel (for 'Cabbyl') A horse. Gairey Rough pasture land grown over with gorse. Glass Grey or green. Howlaa A spirit who wails on the sea-shore before storm. ”

“ What brings you over the hill to-night?
What makes you look so treih?
Are you hearing soun's in the win' to-night?
Or seeing what we can't spy?
"You're snug an' warm down here, my son,
In your thatch-house by the shore. ”

“ THE DAYS OF MY LIFE.
The days of my life! They flow on like a dream,
And I'm nearing the waves of the dim silent stream,
Adrift in the darkness—yet fear I no ill,
For Goodness and Mercy shall follow me still.
The bright days of Springtime, the sunshine and flowers! ”

“ His vision in the vale,
He carved—"Of all the sheep is John
The Priest in Corna dale."
Far on the slopes of old Barrule
Lone lies the ruined Keeil,
And there the words of John the Priest
In Runes are living still. ”

“ We'll play with the roses the Fayries will bring us
And murmur of waters will lull us to rest.
Where the Fayries are weaving the dreams for our pillow
And rocking the cradle where softly we'll lie ”

“ Or is it the gleam of a Kingly Robe
That sheds such radiance round?
He pauses before each cottage door
When the silence is still and deep:
There are souls that work and souls that rest,
And souls that must watch and weep. ”

“ Almost swimming through the grass,
Dusty-foot and gray Grizelda
Like a hurricane they pass.
Neck and neck the water reaching,
In they plunge with shrieks of joy;
Every task a new-found pastime,
All the world their daily toy. ”

“ Low laid upon the ground,
While Angels brought Him heavenly dreams
And kept their watch around.
Oh may such dreams be ours again,
Nor leave us when we rise,
To brighten all the lingering years
With memories of the skies. ”

“ Lap it away from the cold bleak air.
Hasten the day when those desolate gables,
Holding their secret of failure and dearth,
Gently shall sink to their grave by the wayside,
Hidden at last in the warm kind earth. ”

“ The King an' the Queen so high?"
"I'll watch from the bank where the bluebell grows,
To see will they ever pass by."
"How will you know them, little Boy Beg,
When you've wandered many a mile?"
"I'll know the King by his golden crown,
An' the Queen by her lovely smile."
"How will they see you, little Boy Beg,
With your poor little crutch an' all?"
"I'll be houlin' my flow'rs an' makin' my bow,
An' the Queen she'll see me for all." ”

“ And now she showed elation;
"There's where the thram is, an' the lights,
An' all the 'Lectric Station!"
"An' all the folks as plain as plain,
That's comin' in or goin'—
That's what I like," she said, "the thram
An' all the lights a-glowin'!" ”

“ My nag stepped out with might and main—
Her like is not in Englan'.
For up she went and on she went
Above the trees o'erarching,
And on the Braid we turned to see
The mountains all come marching. ”

“ An' with thremblin' fear I heard Him speak:
"Come urrov theer," He said.
"Come urrov theer, Kate Cowle," He said.
"An' go you up on high,
For such as you that's oul' and blind
There's mansions in the sky." ”

“ Hammering an' clamouring an' making such a din—
For they know the herrin's coming, an' there's plenty in!
Clink-a-link, link-a-link, link, link, lin,
Clink-a-link, link-a-link, the hammers ring;
Clink-a-link, link-a-link, ding, ding, ding,
They know the herrin's coming, an' there's plenty in. ”

“ I saw him against the sky,
An' my name was goin' a'callin'
Like a whisper passin' by.
There's Them that's sometimes callin'
Low in th' everin' hour,
An' if you give Them answer
They have you in their power. ”

“ For every chile that's born;
An' it's Her that puts the blessin'
On the marriage morn.
When the work an' bother is over,
An' childher have left us to roam,
Like a tandhar oul' nursing mother
The Church brings us home. ”

“ Aw, well; I'm sick enough for all;
But she's not hearin' when I call.
The times I'd not be sleepin'
She'd up an' have a light,
An' do a bit of readin'—
But failin' in her sight.
Aw, well; I'm lyin' lonely now,
An' who's to go an' milk the cow? ”

“ An' the thought of the craythurs wantin' their mate,
An' it spilt at me all in the snow!
But Crowe came by at las',
Goin' home from the Ramsey mart,
"Them pigs will be wantin' their mate," I said,
When they got me home on the cart.
So that's the way it iss,
An' I'll never be sthrayin' far;
But we mus' have somethin' to keep us down,
The stubborn an' proud we are. ”

“ And three times round Snaefell, like fire went she,
With a screech at the hairy Phynodderee
That turned the night's milk sour."
"I have raced the mountain lamhs," quoth he,
"And seen them run like deer;
But I never seen wan like yondher," quoth he,
"That could run like the hairy Phynodderee,
She'll not be no right wan I fear."
"I've seen many a sheep in my day," quoth he,
"From the Calf to the Point of Ayre ”

“ The house is all through others, the childher's late for school,
The man is spendin'all his time in lookin'for a tool,
The wumman's tired thremendjus with clearin' up the flure,
An' the wan that's doin' all the jeel is wickad Traa-dy-Liooar. ”

“ An' spinnin' wheels, an' taller dips,
All filin' up the roads.
From Earey Beg an' Earey Moar,
Over the broken bridge ;
Over the pairk at Earey Glass,
By Balla'himmin and up Rhenass,
An' all along the ridge.
An' toilin' up Bearey Mountain,
With that wailin', sighin' soun'
As if their hearts were goin’ a-breakin',
The for their last leave they were takin',
Wherever they were boun.'
An' Bearey was roulin' his cloak,
An' reachin' it down his side,
An' coaxin' them up an' lappin' them roun',
Till the wailin' was dyin' gradjual down,
Like the calm of the ebbing tide. ”

“ D’YOU min' them oul' Oie'll Voirreys with the hollan all in berries
An' the carvels goin' a singin' on the night?
An' Tommy Danny Quilliam an' quare oul’ Juan Illiam
With cannles in their fisses for the light? ”

“ But "Mayry, Mayry, Mayry, come you here!"
An' "Johnny, Johnny, John, come urrov that!"
An' "Dear me heart, wherever's Mayry gone!"
An' "What in all the worl' is them two at!"
Johnny an' me was married
Many a year ago,
An' a fine scutch of childher at us—
Ma word, how the lumpers grow!
Now its "Mayry, Mayry, Mayry, min' the chile,"
An' "Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, wipe your feet;"
An' I'm spendin' me time washin' dishes,
An' John is kep' running for meat! ”

“ Not like in them houses in towns where you're took
If out of the windie you're lanin',
But "Kitty." says I, " I'm thinkin'," says I,
"Of them berries you're wantin' to gather.
"An'safeter,"says I, "When a mansarvant's by
"For him to be out on the lather." ”

“ POOR Bobby, he thravelled from dhure to dhure,
An’ each wan gev him a piece;
He'd ress on the settle or lie on the flure,
An' a bit of dhry bread was a feas'.
He had his oul' cot an' a bit of a turf,
To keep out the couth of the night ”

“ That was sittin' quite's an earwig, doin' judgment from her throne,
An' the high wans goin' a scutchin' if they didn' be mindin' themselves,
And an eye for the sarvents as well, that there wasn' no duss on the shelves. ”