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Title: The Will O' The Wisp
Author: Charles Mackay [
More Titles by Mackay]
Where the snake lurks in the tangled grass,
By the slippery brink of the dank morass,
Merrily O! Merrily O!
I light my lamp, and forth I go!
And to lure astray the lated wight,
I shine all night in the swampy hollows,
Merrily O! Merrily O!
Wailing and woe to the fool who follows!
O! Love and Friendship and I make three,
We roam together in company!
Merrily O! Merrily O!
We light our lamps, and forth we go!
Friendship showeth a steady ray,
But its dupes ne'er dream that its heart is hollow,
Merrily O! Merrily O!
Wailing and woe to the fools who follow!
O! Love indeed hath a fairer gleam;--
What is so bright as her first fond dream?
Merrily O! Merrily O!
We light our lamps, and forth we go!
An early blight if that love be true,[1]
A broken heart if that love be hollow!
Merrily O! Merrily O!
Wailing and woe to the fools who follow!
[Footnote 1: The course of true love never did run smooth."
---Shakspeare.]
[The end]
Charles MacKay's poem: Will O' The Wisp
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