Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE MAN AT THE TURNPIKE BAR, by THOMAS AUGUSTINE DALY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE MAN AT THE TURNPIKE BAR, by                    
First Line: I was fifty-odd year on the lancaster pike
Last Line: All the dear roads that I sit an' look afther, now!
Alternate Author Name(s): Daly, T. A.
Subject(s): Beauty; Soul


I WAS fifty-odd year on the Lancaster Pike,
Takin' the toll, takin' the toll;
But it's never again I'll be doin' the like,
Since we've lost the conthrol, lost the conthrol.
An' it's manny a thraveler usin' the road
Will be glad o' their freedom; ye'd know be their laughter now.
But for all they're so free here's one heart wears a load,
Wid no wish to go on, but to sit an' look afther now.

Oh, the wonders o' Beauty I caught wid me eye,
Takin' the toll, takin' the toll!
For to stand like a king, wid the world sthreamin' by,
Is a feast for the soul, food for the soul.
For there wasn't a day that I stood in that place
But was blessed wid the grace of some dacint girl's laughter, now,
Or the turn of a head or the gleam of a face,
That I'll often an' often be glad to look afther now!

Never again will I stand, d'ye mind,
Takin' the toll, takin' the toll;
Ah! but the Beauty I've seen is still kind,
An' it's food for my soul, food for my soul.
Pick the two eyes from my head, if you will,
Faith, ye can't rob me o' fifty years' laughter, now;
No! nor of takin' my toll from them still,
All the dear roads that I sit an' look afther, now!





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