The Golden Lassie’s Lament

By Mary McDougal

 

There was a lass with golden hair

Like sun upon wheat shone

With eyes blue as a summer sky

And a heart made of stone

 

With soul-windows full of secrets

This queen of kilt glances

Had broken hearts upon her wake 

And silken advances

 

Never a tear fell from her eye

No regret plagued her mind

Though many a tear was shed by

Poor lads she left behind

 

But on that day, so fair and fine

When her prey she did seek

She found herself taken aback

By a lad, good and meek

 

He was a sailor, tall and dark

As a deep new moon’s night

With honest eyes of gentle gaze

And heart both true and right

 

The queen was overthrown that day

How hard her heart did fall

For that dark, bonnie sailor lad

Who valued love or’ all

 

And so she sought him to ensnare

In her usual way

Yet when she tried to engage him

He up and walked away

 

With playful ease she did stop him

In voice so soft did plea

After tossing her golden hair

“Don’t you like what you see?”

 

That sailor stood so calm and strong

Eyes fixed on hers just so

“I’ll tell ye lass, what I do see,

May it fill you with woe

 

How you do lure, beguile, and steal

The hearts of foolish men

Who search for love within thine arms

But embrace death instead

 

You cheapen love to mere fancy

Lasting long as you please.

Drinking until you’ve had your fill

Of all that you do thieve

 

You show no mercy to the weak

Nor concern to the cost

Each of your lovers come to pay

To want your heart of frost

 

I pity now, thine cold blue eyes

For they will ne’r gaze on

The true, pure, and the steadfast love

That flows from God’s own Son

 

Your hair will grey like melted snow

All your charms pass away

Growing too accustomed to dark

You cannot face the day

 

Now I’ve a lass on home’s fair isle

To whom I’ll er’ be true

For the beauty therein her heart

Will always bloom anew

 

To her I’ll cleave thru’ storm and gale

For when death comes my way

I know we shan’t be parted long

And with our King we’ll stay

 

So cast off lass, your brazen ways

Off wi’ your colours now

Weep, wail, and above all, repent

Put on your mourning gown”

  

With that he did salute this girl

By hand upon his cap

And so left her broken-hearted

Lost at sea with no map

 

And then those eyes, once full of lies

That ne’r did shed a tear

On that day, finally did weep

Faint-hearted, caved to fear

 

It’s said she fled to rocky cliffs

Crying unceasing ever

Never again was this lass seen

Regret her soul did sever

 

So as the ships skim softly to

Approach the misty shore

From the cliffs is heard a sad sound

Or so many men swore

 

Before the dawn lights up the skies

Soft cries will moan and start

Known as the golden lassie’s lament

Who died of a broken, wayward heart.

 

 

Mary McDougal is nineteen years of age and has written various forms of traditional and non-traditional poetry since reading Shakespeare’s eighteenth sonnet at the age of thirteen and was hence inspired to try her hand at iambic pentameter for the first time. Ms. McDougal enjoys reading the works of many timeless authors, including (but not limited to) Shakespeare, Dickens, C. S. Lewis, Tolkien, Chesterton, Anne Bradstreet, Tennyson, and Stephen Lawhead. She also enjoys studying works of Puritan writers, Arthurian literature, and Old English Folk ballads. The Lord has endowed her with a passion for redeeming the arts unto the glory of God, especially in the forms of writing and dancing. She has danced with the Richmond Ballet in Virginia and has trained and performed in various venues across the United States.  Mary currently resides with her family in Atlanta, Georgia and dances with the collective “Bluebird: Uncaged” which seeks to bring hope and dignity through dance.  Her blog can be accessed at amarysmusings.blogspot.com