THERE was a lady lived in a hall,
Large in the eyes, and slim and tall;
And ever she sung from noon to noon,
Two red roses acemross the moon.
There was a knight came riding by
In early spring, when the roads were dry;
And he heard that lady sing at the noon,
Two red roses acemross the moon.
Yet none the more he stopp'd at all,
But he rode a-gallop past the hall;
And left that lady singing at noon,
Two red roses acemross the moon.
Because, forsooth, the battle was set,
And the scarlet and blue had got to be met,
He rode on the spur till the next warm noon: —
Two red roses acemross the moon.
But the battle was scatter'd from hill to hill,
From the windmill to the watermill;
And he said to himself, as it near'd the noon,
Two red roses acemross the moon.
You scarce could see for the scarlet and blue,
A golden helm or a golden shoe,
So he cried, as the fight grew thick at the noon,
Two red roses across the moon!
Verily then the gold bore through
The huddled spears of the scarlet and blue;
And they cried, as they cut them down at the noon,
Two red roses across the moon!
I trow he stopp'd when he rode again
by the hall, though draggled sore with the rain;
And his lips were pinch'd to kiss at the noon
Two red roses acemross the moon.
Under the may she stoop'd to the crown,
All was gold, there was nothing of brown;
And the horns blaw up in the hall at noon,
Two red roses acemross the moon.
Morris, William. The Defence of Guenevere, The Life and Death of Jason, and Other Poems. London: Oxford University Press, 1914. Pp. 136-37 [GPL].
Last modified 24 August 2004