The Cow-Boy's Song

"Mooly cow, mooly cow, home from the wood

They sent me to fetch you as fast as I could.

The sun has gone down: it is time to go home.

Mooly cow, mooly cow, why don't you come?

Your udders are full, and the milkmaid is there,

And the children are waiting their supper to share.

I have let the long bars down,—why don't you pass through?"

The mooly cow only said, "Moo-o-o!"

"Mooly cow, mooly cow, have you not been

Regaling all day where the pastures are green?

No doubt it was pleasant, dear mooly, to see

The clear running brook and the wide-spreading tree,

The clover to crop and the streamlet to wade,

To drink the cool water and lie in the shade;

But now it is night: they are waiting for you."

The mooly cow only said, "Moo-o-o!"

"Mooly cow, mooly cow, where do you go,

When all the green pastures are covered with snow?

You go to the barn and we feed you with hay,

And the maid goes to milk you there, every day;

She speaks to you kindly and sits by your side,

She pats you, she loves you, she strokes your sleek hide:

Then come along home, pretty mooly cow, do."

But the mooly cow only said, "Moo-o-o!"

"Mooly cow, mooly cow, whisking your tail,

The milkmaid is waiting, I say, with her pail;

She tucks up her petticoats, tidy and neat,

And places the three-legged stool for her seat:—

What can you be staring at, mooly? You know

That we ought to have gone home an hour ago.

How dark it is growing! O, what shall I do?"

The mooly cow only said, "Moo-o-o!"