Anonymous British Poems

Down in yon forest there stands a hall:
The bells of Paradise I heard them ring:
It's covered all over with purple and pall
And I love my Lord Jesus above anything.
...

In Scarlet town, where I was born,
There was a fair maid dwellin',
Made every youth cry Well-a-day!
Her name was Barbara Allen.
...

Here doth Dionysia lie:
She whose little wanton foot,
Tripping (ah, too carelessly! ),
Touch'd this tomb, and fell into 't.
...

As, near Porto Bello lying,
On the gently swelling flood,
At midnight, with streamers flying,
...

Let me live on, I only ask to live
Until the war is ended and I see
What is the verdict that the heavens give
To wrong and force and fraud and treachery
...

A norrible tale I'm going to tell
Of the woeful tragedy which befell
A family that once resided
In the very same thoroughfare as I did;
...

I knew a garden green and fair,
Flanking our London river's tide,
And you would think, to breathe its air
And roam its virgin lawns beside,
All shimmering in their velvet fleece,
'Nothing can hurt this haunt of Peace.'
...

We never were made to be seen on parade
When sweethearts and such line the streets;
When the band starts to blare, look for us we ain't there-
We're mussing around with the eats.
...

I went across to France again, and walked about the line,
The trenches have been all filled in - the country's looking fine.
The folks gave me a welcome, and lots to eat and drink,
Saying, 'Allo, Tommee, back again? 'Ow do you do? In ze pink?'
...

Logs to Burn, Logs to burn, Logs to burn,
Logs to save the coal a turn,
Here's a word to make you wise,
When you hear the woodman's cries.
...