Rejoicing angels, that kind Heaven has sent And soon descending The narrow sweep Towards Saint Amant, Of verdurous valleys Singing their chant : "The roads should blossom, the roads should bloom, So fair a bride shall leave her home! Should blossom and bloom with garlands gay, . It is Baptiste, and his affianced maiden, The sky was blue; without one cloud of gloom, When one beholds the dusky hedges blossom, To sounds of joyous melodies, That touch with tenderness the trembling bosom, A band of maidens Gayly frolicking, A band of youngsters Caressing, With fingers pressing, Till in the veriest Madness of mirth, as they dance, They retreat and advance, Trying whose laugh shall be loudest and merriest ; While the bride, with roguish eyes, Sporting with them, now escapes and cries: "Those who catch me Married verily This year shall be! And all pursue with eager haste, And all attain what they pursue, And touch her pretty apron fresh and new, Meanwhile, whence comes it that among Baptiste stands sighing, with silent tongue? And yet the bride is fair and young! O no! for a maiden frail, I trow, What lovers! they give not a single caress! These are grand people, one would say. It is, that, half-way up the hill, And you must know, one year ago, Love, the deceiver, them ensnared ; All at the father's stern command was changed; Returned but three short days ago, The golden chain they round him throw, To marry Angela, and yet Is thinking ever of Margaret. Then suddenly a maiden cried, “Anna, Theresa, Mary, Kate! Here comes the cripple Jane!" And by a fountain's side A woman, bent and gray with years, It is that Jane, the cripple Jane, And the bride a lovely boy straightway. She never deceives, she never errs. But for this once the village seer Wears a countenance severe, And from beneath her eyebrows thin and white . Aimed at the bridegroom in waistcoat blue, Who, like a statue, stands in view; "Thoughtless Angela, beware! Lest, when thou weddest this false bridegroom, And she was silent; and the maidens fair What are two drops of turbid rain? Of verdurous valleys, With merry sallies, They sang the refrain :— "The roads should blossom, the roads should bloom, So fair a bride shall leave her home! Should blossom and bloom with garlands gay, So fair a bride shall pass to-day!" |