Adam's Curse

(Song from an Unfinished Play)

My mother dandled me and sang,   

'How young it is, how young!'   

And made a golden cradle   

That on a willow swung.   

'He went away,' my mother sang,

'When I was brought to bed,'   

And all the while her needle pulled   

The gold and silver thread.   

She pulled the thread and bit the thread   

And made a golden gown,

And wept because she had dreamt that I   

Was born to wear a crown.   

'When she was got,' my mother sang,   

'I heard a sea-mew cry,   

And saw a flake of the yellow foam 

That dropped upon my thigh.'   

How therefore could she help but braid   

The gold into my hair,   

And dream that I should carry   

The golden top of care?