An idle Saturday

Song of Two Lovers

In England over the endless sea
(I dream of my dearling, for you and me:
Tomorrow if not today)

There stands in Dorset by the sea,
In the gentle airs of the West Country,
A house that is tall and grey,

An old grey house beside the sea,
And there two lovers live merrily,
Most merrily and gay.

Two willows near and a great beech tree
Trace starlit patterns of fantasy,
And spring in the breeze by day.

These lovers go walking by the sea,
Their hair in the wind blows light and free,
And their lips are kissed by the spray,

They stroll in the lane and follow the bee,
They lie in the grass beneath a tree,
And they sing as they wander away.

At dusk they turn to their house by the sea,
Lightly and gaily come home to tea,
She carries a bright bouquet.

They stop at the church quite faithfully
And sweetly together they bend the knee--
Oh it's thanks they give as they pray!

Sometimes they dress most handsomely:
Go up to London Town to see
Some books and a friend and a play.

And twice, O Oxford town, to thee:
First for the joyful ecstacy
Of the dreaming spires and the may;

And then in soft winter dusk to be
In cold empty streets without a key
Yet never alone or astray.

Then home to the tall grey house by the sea
To sit close by the fire and read poetry
As long as the night will stay.

Just so in England right merrily
Two lovers so lightly live and, see!
Hands linked as they go their way.

One lover, oh dearling! looks like thee;
The other lover, dear one, is me--
And to dream can be to pray.

-Sheldon Vanauken