Robert Kirkland Kernighan Poems

My love is light as a will-o'-the-wisp,
Oh, my, me !
My love she speaks with a little lisp,
Oh, my, me !
...

For years my summer-fallow lay,
A wealthy waste of grass and hay
A wilder place you scarce could match
The maiden's famous berry patch.
...

I 'm poor, mister ; my friends are gone,
And the people on yonder farm
Are cold ; and ever from dark to dawn ;
There 's nothing to keep me warm.
...

The air was dark, and damp, and chill,
And the lofty trees were swaying ;
And round and round the Haunted Hill
The scattered leaves were playing ;
...

I ve only got two friends on earth :
I owe them both a debt ;
No matter what my trouble was
They 've never failed me yet ;
...

In the past time long ago, when a little babe was young :
When a little baby, spotless, in its cradle went to sleep ;
When a young wife crooned and carolled, with a sweet,
melodious tongue,
And kisses fell like rain-drops on the bosom of the deep.
...

Mary Ann is coming home
Coming home to-night,
Daddy 's gone away to fetch her
Make her old home bright.
...

Did you ever try to dodge a man
A man you did n't like ?
You can't escape a man like that :
He 's the man you always strike.
...

If Peepy had lived,' the mother sighed,
'He'd be of age to-day.'
She bowed her head as she softly cried
The head that was turning grey.
...

My sandalled feet are firm and fleet,
My chariot wheels are splendid ;
I rush and run before the sun
With balmy breezes blended ;
...