Sydney Dobell. 1824-1874
765. The Ballad of Keith of Ravelston
1 min to read
232 words

THE murmur of the mourning ghost   That keeps the shadowy kine, 'O Keith of Ravelston,   The sorrows of thy line!'

Ravelston, Ravelston,   The merry path that leads Down the golden morning hill,   And thro' the silver meads;

Ravelston, Ravelston,   The stile beneath the tree, The maid that kept her mother's kine,   The song that sang she!

She sang her song, she kept her kine,   She sat beneath the thorn, When Andrew Keith of Ravelston   Rode thro' the Monday morn.

His henchman sing, his hawk-bells ring,   His belted jewels shine; O Keith of Ravelston,   The sorrows of thy line!

Year after year, where Andrew came,   Comes evening down the glade, And still there sits a moonshine ghost   Where sat the sunshine maid.

Her misty hair is faint and fair,   She keeps the shadowy kine; O Keith of Ravelston,   The sorrows of thy line!

I lay my hand upon the stile,   The stile is lone and cold, The burnie that goes babbling by   Says naught that can be told.

Yet, stranger! here, from year to year,   She keeps her shadowy kine; O Keith of Ravelston,   The sorrows of thy line!

Step out three steps, where Andrew stood—   Why blanch thy cheeks for fear? The ancient stile is not alone,   'Tis not the burn I hear!

She makes her immemorial moan,   She keeps her shadowy kine; O Keith of Ravelston,   The sorrows of thy line!

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Sydney Dobell. 1824-1874
766. Return!
1 min to read
353 words
Return to Hemingway's List for a Young Writer (1934)






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