Ailsie, My Bairn, by Eugene Field

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Ailsie, My Bairn
by Eugene Field (1850-1895)

Lie in my arms, Ailsie, my bairn,---
Lie in my arms and dinna greit;
Long time been past syn I kenned you last,
But my harte been allwais the same, my swete.

Ailsie, I colde not say you ill,
For out of the mist of your bitter tears,
And the prayers that rise from your bonnie eyes,
Cometh a promise of oder yeres.

I mind the time when we lost our bairn,---
Do you ken that time? A wambling tot,
You wandered away ane simmer day,
And we hunted and called, and found you not.

I promised God, if He 'd send you back,
Alwaies to keepe and to love you, childe;
And I 'm thinking again of that promise when
I see you creep out of the storm sae wild.

You came back then as you come back now,---
Your kirtle torn and your face all white;
And you stood outside and knockit and cried,
Just as you, dearie, did to-night.

Oh, never a word of the cruel wrang,
That has faded your cheek and dimmed your ee,
And never a word of the fause, fause lord,---
Only a smile and a kiss for me.

Lie in my arms, as long, long syne,
And sleepe on my bosom, deere wounded thing,---
I 'm nae sae glee as I used to be,
Or I 'd sing you the songs I used to sing.

But Ile kemb my fingers thro' y'r haire,
And nane shall know, but you and I,
Of the love and the faith that came to us baith
When Ailsie, my bairn, came home to die.

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