Maiden

“ O take the ring—for thou and thine Are hated,—not by me—but mine— Father and mother will not hear thee Brother and sister both forswear thee Yet, think not, youth,—I think not ill Of her who needs must love thee still! I am a poor unhappy maid, Whose path the darkest clouds o'ershade, I sowed sweet basil, and there grew On that same spot the bitterest rue And wormwood, that unholy flower, I now alone my marriage dower; The only flower which they shall wear Who to the maiden's marriage comes, When for my marriage altar there The guests shall find the maiden's tomb. ”

“ When thy heart burst in joy as I own'd thee for mine? Alas! for the maiden whose peace is betray'd By the tears and the vows of a falsehood like thine! As the changeable sky—now o'erclouded, now bright, Is the faith of thy race—their language to-day, "I will wed thee to-morrow, my love and my light!" To-morrow—"Let's wait till the harvest's away." The harvest is ended, the winter is nigh And another maid dwells in their hearts and their eye. S. J. B. LXXVII MAIDEN'S AFFECTION
"Black is the night—an outcast lad Is wandering in our village, mother! ”

“ The development of the maiden is like the opening of some lovely flower-bud. As life unfolds, the tender smile and blush of childhood mingle with the grace of maidenly repose; the upturned, radiant eye gathers new depths of thought and emotion ”

“ Ye saw him at morning, how gallant and gay!
In bridal adorning, the star of the day;
Now, weep for the lover—his triumph is sped,
His hope it is over! the chieftain is dead!
But, O! for the maiden who mourns for that chief,
With heart overladen and rending with grief!
She sinks on the meadow—in one morning-tide,
A wife and a widow, a maid and a bride!
Ye maidens attending, forbear to condole!
Your comfort is rending the depths of her soul:
True—true, 'twas a story for ages of pride ”

“ Left everything to keep, one night,
A small appointment.
And are you sure the girl you love—
This maid on whom you have your heart set
Is lowly—that she is not of
The Roman smart set?
A maiden modest as is she,
So full of sweetness and forbearance,
Must be all right; her folks must be
Delightful parents. ”

“ Many strange things have I seen in my journey through this life, but the strangest of all, I think, my friend, is a maid. One mind to-day; another to-morrow. I had as lieve try to account for the storm, as to say what a lady would do to-day or to-morrow. I cannot say what the maiden will do—perhaps she will marry Dunraven, but this much I repeat, deep down in her heart she loves thee. ”

“ You are indeed quite right, my kind and excellent maiden,
To begin by asking about the tastes of my parents!
For I have hitherto striven in vain to satisfy Father,
When I look'd after the inn, as well as my regular duty,
Working early and late in the field, and tending the vineyard.
Mother indeed was contented; she knew how to value my efforts;
And she will certainly hold you to be an excellent maiden,
If you take care of the house, as though the dwelling your own were.
But my father's unlike her; he's fond of outward appearance. ”

“ I sing, dear maid, and sing for thee!
ODE LXXI. With twenty chords my lyre is hung,
And while I wake them all for thee,
Thou, O maiden, wild and young,
Disportest in airy levity.
The nursling fawn, that in some shade
Its antlered mother leaves behind,
Is not more wantonly afraid,
More timid of the rustling wind!
ODE LXXII. Fare thee well, perfidious maid,
My soul, too long on earth delayed,
Delayed, perfidious girl, by thee,
Is on the wing for liberty.
I fly to seek a kindlier sphere,
Since thou hast ceased to love me here! ”

“ Son, not greater thy wish to bring thee a bride to thy chamber, That thou mayst find thy nights a beautiful part of existence, And that the work of the day may gain independence and freedom, Than is thy father's wish too, and thy mother's. We always have counselled,— Yea, we have even insisted,—that thou shouldst select thee a maiden. But I was ever aware, and now my heart gives me assurance, That till the hour appointed is come, and the maiden appointed Shall with the hour appear, the choice will be left for the future, While more strong than all else will be fear of grasping the wrong one. ”

“ Young maidens raised to them eyes full of admiration; they, selecting the maiden most beautiful, answered with jests, as if no care weighed on them, sending kisses, or exclaiming, “Embrace me before death does!” ”

“ Then he enquired of the maiden who the lady was. “Heaven knows,” replied the maiden, “she may be said to be the fairest, and the most chaste, and the most liberal, and the wisest, and the most noble of women. And she is my mistress; and she is called the Countess of the Fountain, the wife of him whom thou didst slay yesterday.” “Verily,” said Owain, “she is the woman that I love best.” “Verily,” said the maiden, “she shall also love thee not a little.” ”

“ Though I hadn’t a sou at my bankers!
If you’ll tell me the reason a maiden must sigh
When she looks at a star or a planet;
If you’ll tell me the reason she flings her book by,
When you know she has hardly began it;
If her cheek has grown pale, and if dim is her eye,
And her breathing both fevered and faint is,
Then think it exceedingly likely that I
Can tell what that maiden’s complaint is!
COUSINS.
“L’Hymen, dit-on, craint les petits Cousins.”—Scribe. ”

“ Wilt thou reward the maiden for her folly— Shine on, and burn the maiden's snowy forehead. But I a gloomier dowry yet will give her; Evil to her shall be her husband's brother; Evil to her shall be her husband's father. Then shall she think upon the affront she gave thee. ”

“ Then said Pwyll, “O maiden, for the sake of him whom thou best lovest, stay for me.” “I will stay gladly,” said she, “and it were better for thy horse hadst thou asked it long since.” So the maiden stopped, and she threw back that part of her headdress which covered her face. And she fixed her eyes upon him, and began to talk with him. “Lady,” asked he, “whence comest thou, and whereunto dost thou journey?” “I journey on mine own errand,” said she, “and right glad am I to see thee.” “My greeting be unto thee,” said he. ”

“ A maiden is disconsolate, When she has no money to go and buy some olea frangrans oil. A maiden is glad, When the wick of the lantern forms two heads like twin flowers on one stem. A maiden is joyful, When true conjugal peace prevails between her and her mate. ”

“ Let the maiden, with erect soul, walk serenely on her way, accept the hint of each new experience, search, in turn, all the objects that solicit her eye, that she may learn the power and the charm of her new-born being which is the kindling of a new dawn in the recesses of space. ”

“ But since I am a maiden
⁠I go with downcast eyes,
And he will never hear the songs
⁠That he has turned to sighs.
And since I am a maiden
⁠My love will never know
That I could kiss him with a mouth
⁠More red than roses blow. ”

“ WOULD you know the kind of maid
⁠Sets my heart a flame-a?
Eyes must be downcast and staid,
Cheeks must flush for shame-a!
She may neither dance nor sing,
But, demure in everything,
Hang her head in modest way,
With pouting lips that seem to say
"Kiss me, kiss me, kiss me, kiss me,
Though I die of shame-a,"
Please you, that's the kind of maid
Sets my heart a flame-a!
When a maid is bold and gay
With a tongue goes clang-a,
Flaunting it in brave array,
Maiden may go hang-a! ”

“ The young English maiden was a girl in every sense—a good-looking, bright-eyed, rosy, laughter-loving creature, showing a decided preference for the sunny side of life, and for ever trying to shun the shadowy side ”

“ The maiden is changed from an infant saint fleeing a vale of tears into a girl in whom the first sweet passions of life blend into an exaltation half sexual and half religious, but pure with the purity of a great flame. ”

“ From the first interview there is frequently thrown around the maiden a peculiar, undefined spell; she will feel differently in his presence, and watch him with other eyes than she has for [84] the rest of men, and in due time, when he shall ask her to decide upon the question which shall seal the temporal and eternal destiny of two human souls, she will gladly respond, giving in loving trustfulness that which is the most precious, the most enviable thing on earth: a maiden's heart, a woman's love. ”

“ A maiden's scornful farewell to her fickle lover, as she returns him the presents and letters he has sent her.
If I had Minded Mamma, 3abcb and 3abcb, 6: A maiden's regret that she has been deluded by a faithless lover:
He is like the blue-birds ever
That flies from tree to tree;
And when he sees another girl
He never thinks of me.
I Used to Love, 4abcb and 4abcb, 4: A maiden voices her complaint against the "dark-eyed girl," her successful rival, and her wish for "coffin, shroud, and grave," to end her woe. ”

“ A tripping maid means just a young one.”
“What is a maid?”
“A little girl.”
“When a maid grows up, what is she?”
“Why she's a maiden, I suppose.”
“When a maiden grows up, what is she?”
“Just a woman, Sue.”
“What is saintly feet?”
“Feet like those of Eldress Abby or Elder Gray; feet of people who have always tried to do right.”
“Are Brother Ansel's feet saintly?” ”

“ There were a youth and a maiden there that night, but not the atheling nor his sister. The lad was younger than thou, and the maiden older than I. It could not be they. Besides, I met this youth and maiden in Andred’s weald some time ago. ”

“ Lover to listening maid might breathe his flame,
Nor mark, within its roseate canopy,
Her blush of maiden shame. ”

“ From William Corkine's Second Book of Airs, 1612.
AWAY, away! call back what you have said
When you did vow to live and die a maid:
O if you knew what chance to them befell
That dance about with bobtail apes in hell,
Yourself your virgin girdle would divide
And put aside the maiden veil that hides
The chiefest gem of nature; and would lie
Prostrate to every peasant that goes by,
Rather than undergo such shame: no tongue can tell
What injury is done to maids in hell.
[Pg 89]
From The Windsor Drollery, 1672. ”

“ Fierce in his soul was the struggle and tumult of passions contending;
Love triumphant and crowned, and friendship wounded and bleeding,
Passionate cries of desire, and importunate pleadings of duty!20
“Is it my fault,” he said, “that the maiden has chosen between us? ”

“ But, indeed, you to think thatwise of the maid that you did love; and all the world to be thinking each these thoughts of one dear maiden that doth be the one maid in all the round world.
And this to be the lovely niceness of the human heart; and I not to have any grumble thereat; but yet, surely, you shall say that this Maid that did be Mine Own, did be very dear and lovely. And, in verity, I to show my human heart in this thing; for you likewise to want that I think your Maid to have been just so dear, and the more so. And indeed we ever to be going these ways ”

“ So that the maiden two ways very modestly both extenuates her own condition and extols the munificence of the Divine Being, not being content to style herself a handmaid, but also a humile one, one of the meanest circumstances. According to the old proverb, there is difference in servants ; so in maid-servants, one is better than another as to the dignity of their office a waiting- gentlewoman is more honourable than a laundrymaid. ”

“ Whereat the maiden smiled, and said between laughing and earnest, "He is a little chimney, and heated hot in a moment!" ”

“ And when once the young heart of a maiden is stolen
The maiden herself will steal after it soon. ”

“ The maiden has a certain start given, which she avails herself of to gain a sufficient distance from the crowd to enable her to manage her steed with freedom, so as to assist in his pursuit the suitor whom she prefers. ”

“ She is one who is always amongst the first in the temples at grand ceremonies, and the very sight of you, fair maiden, about to be vowed to the highest service, will fill her old heart with pride that she is allowed to touch your hand. ”

“ Quickly a couple of maids ran away, and shortly after an old woman came from the inner apartments, leading a maiden by the hand, who might have been sixteen years of age, and was incomparably beautiful. ”

“ Nor for her love to sue, before leading her home to his dwelling.
Ah! and the golden ring he perceived on the hand of the maiden,
Wherefore he let her speak on, and gave diligent ear to her language.
"Come," she presently said, "Let us back to the village; for maidens
Always are sure to be blamed if they tarry too long at the fountain. ”

“ Invitation to Eternity
Say, wilt thou go with me, sweet maid,
Say, maiden, wilt thou go with me
Through the valley-depths of shade,
Of bright and dark obscurity;
Where the path has lost its way,
Where the sun forgets the day,
Where there's nor light nor life to see,
Sweet maiden, wilt thou go with me?
Where stones will turn to flooding streams,
Where plains will rise like ocean's waves,
Where life will fade like visioned dreams
And darkness darken into caves,
Say, maiden, wilt thou go with me
Through this sad non-identity
Where parents live and are forgot,
And sisters live and know us not? ”

“ Item, a maiden who believes in education and possesses it, with a few hundred thousand dollars to boot, and a taste for slumming. Item, the leader of a sort of informal salon where girls congregate, read papers, and daringly discuss metaphysical problems and candy—a sloe-eyed, black-browed, imperious maiden. Item, a very small maiden, absolutely without reverence, who can in one swift sentence trample upon and leave gasping half a dozen young men. ”