WHEN I was bound apprentice, In famous Lincolnshire, Full well I served my master For more then seven year, Till I took up to poaching, As you shall quickly hear; O'tis my delight on a shining night, In the season of the year! As me and my companions Were setting of a snare, 'Twas then we spied the gamekeeper— For him we did not care; For we can wrestle and fight, my boys, And jump o'er anywhere; O'tis my delight on a shining night, In the season of the year! As me and my companions Were setting four or five, And taking on 'em up again, We caught a hare alive; We took the hare alive, my boys, And through the woods did steer; O'tis my delight on a shining night, In the season of the year! I threw him on my shoulder, And then we trudged home; We took him to a neighbour's house, And sold him for a crown; We sold him for a crown, my boys, But I did not tell you where; O'tis my delight on a shining night In the season of the year! Success to every gentleman That lives in Lincolnshire; Success to every poacher That wants to sell a hare; Bad luck to every gamekeeper, That will not sell his deer; O'tis my delight on a shining night, In the season of the year! | Discover our Poem Explanations and Poet Analyses!Other Poems of Interest...JEST 'FORE CHRISTMAS by EUGENE FIELD PEACE by GERARD MANLEY HOPKINS THE HUSKERS by JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER TO A FRIEND WHOSE WORK HAS COME TO NOTHING by WILLIAM BUTLER YEATS SAN GABRIEL by LYMAN WHITNEY ALLEN |