Yorkshire Dialect Poems (1673-1915) and traditional poems

Ode to t' Mooin

     J. H. Eccles (1824-1883)

     I like to see thy quaint owd face
        Lewk softly daan on me,
     E'en though I ne'er could find thy nose
        Nor catch thy watchful ee.

     Full monny times I've seen thee rise,
        When busy day were done,
     When daan behint t' owd maantain tops
        Had passed t' breet evenin' sun.

     I like to see thee when sweet spring
        Cooms back to hill an' vale;
     When odours rise through t' hawthorn bush,
        An' float on t' evenin' gale.

     When lovers walk on t' primrose benks,
        An' whisper soft an' low;
     Dreamin' just same as me an' t' wife
        Did monny years ago.

     I like to see thee when t' June rose
        Is wet wi' fallin' dew,
     When t' nightingale maks t' owd woods ring
        Wi' music fresh an' new

     When fairies dance on t' top o' t' flaars
        An' roam through t' pleasant dells,
     Like monarchs i' their marble halls,
        I' t' lilies' virgin bells.

     I like to see thee when t' ripe corn
        Is wavin' to an' fro;
     When t' squirril goes a-seekin' nuts
        An' jumps thro' bough to bough.

     When t' purple heather covers t' hills,
        An' t' hunters, tired and worn,
     Back through the fairy-haunted glens
        Unto their homes return.

     I like to see thee when all raand
        Is white wi' drivven snow,
     When t' streams are stopp'd by owd Jack Frost
        An' foaks slip as they go.

     I like to see thee all t' year raand,
        When t' sky is fair an' breet,
     An' allus hail wi' fond delight
        The noble queen o' t' neet.

     I used to think at I could reach
        Up to thy face wi' ease,
     If I had but a big long stick;
        For tha were but green cheese.

     But naa I've got far different thowts,
        An' learnt to understand
     At tha art one o' t' wondrous works
        Formed by t' gert Maker's hand.