The Death Of Robin Hood

"Give me my bow," said Robin Hood,  "An arrow give to me;

And where 't is shot mark thou that spot,  For there my grave shall be."Then Little John did make no sign,  And not a word he spake;

But he smiled, altho' with mickle woe  His heart was like to break.

He raised his master in his arms,  And set him on his knee;

And Robin's eyes beheld the skies,  The shaws, the greenwood tree.

The brook was babbling as of old,  The birds sang full and clear,

And the wild-flowers gay like a carpet lay  In the path of the timid deer."O Little John," said Robin Hood,  "Meseemeth now to

Standing with you so stanch and true  Under the greenwood tree."And all around I hear the sound  Of Sherwood long ago,

And my merry men come back again,—  You know, sweet friend, you know!"Now mark this arrow; where it falls,  When I am dead dig deep,

And bury me there in the greenwood where  I would forever sleep."He twanged his bow.

Upon its course  The clothyard arrow sped,

And when it fell in yonder dell,  Brave Robin Hood was dead.

The sheriff sleeps in a marble vault,  The king in a shroud of gold;

And upon the air with a chanted pray'r  Mingles the mock of mould.

But the deer draw to the shady pool,  The birds sing blithe and free,

And the wild-flow'rs bloom o'er a hidden tomb  Under the greenwood tree.