Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE THREE GIFTS; A TALE OF NORTH GERMANY, by JOHN GODFREY SAXE


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE THREE GIFTS; A TALE OF NORTH GERMANY, by                     Poet's Biography
First Line: Three gentlemen mounted their horses one day
Last Line: "by selling the rags and dust!"
Subject(s): Gifts & Giving


THREE gentlemen mounted their horses one day,
And far in the country they rode,
Till they came to a cottage, that stood by the way,
Where an honest old weaver abode.

This honest old weaver was wretchedly poor,
Yet he never was surly or sad;
He welcomed the travelers into his door,
And gave them the best that he had.

They ate and they drank, till the weaver began
To fear that they never would cease;
But when they had finished, they gave to the man
A hundred gold guineas apiece.

Then the gentlemen mounted their horses again,
And, bidding the weaver "Good night,"
Went dashing away over valley and plain,
And were presently lost to his sight.

Sure never was weaver so happy before,
And never seemed guineas so bright;
He counted the pieces a hundred times o'er,
With more than a miser's delight.

Then snug in some rags he hid them away,
As if he had got them by stealth,
Lest his meddlesome wife, who was absent that day,
Should know of his wonderful wealth.

Soon after, a traveling rag-dealer came,
The rags in the bundle were sold,
And with them (the woman was little to blame)
The three hundred guineas of gold.

When a calendar year had vanished and fled,
The gentlemen came as before.
"Now how does it happen," they moodily said,
"We find you so wretchedly poor?"

"Alas!" said the weaver, "this many a day
The money is missing, in sooth;
In a bundle of rags it was hidden away,
('Fore God! I am telling the truth.)

"But once, in my absence, a rag-dealer came,
The rags in the bundle were sold,
And with them (the woman was surely to blame)
The three hundred guineas of gold."

"It was foolishly done," the gentlemen swore;
"Now, prithee, be careful of these."
And they gave him again, the same as before,
A hundred gold guineas apiece.

Then the gentlemen mounted their horses again,
And, bidding the weaver "Good night,"
Went dashing away over valley and plain,
And were presently lost to his sight.

"I' faith," said the weaver, "no wonder they chid;
But now I am wiser, I trust."
So the three hundred guineas he carefully hid
Far down in a barrel of dust.

But soon, in his absence, a dust-man came,
The dust in the barrel was sold;
And with it (the woman was little to blame)
The three hundred guineas of gold.

When a calendar year had vanished and fled,
The gentlemen came as before.
"Now how does it happen," they angrily said,
"We find you so wretchedly poor?"

"Was ever," he cried, "so luckless a wight?
As surely as Heaven is just,
The money I hid from my spouse's sight
Far down in a barrel of dust;

"But when I was absent the dust-man came,
The dust in the barrel was sold,
And with it (the woman was surely to blame)
The three hundred guineas of gold."

"Take that for your folly!" the gentlemen said;
"Was ever so silly a wight?"
And they tossed on the table a lump of lead,
And were presently out of his sight.

"'T is plain," said the weaver, "they meant to flout,
And little I marvel; alas! --
My wife is a fool; and there is n't a doubt
That I am an arrant ass!"

While thus he was musing in sorrow and shame,
And wishing that he were dead,
Into his cottage a fisherman came
To borrow a lump of lead.

"Ah! here," he cried, "is the thing I wish
To mend my broken net;
Will you give it me for the finest fish
That I this day may get?"

"With all my heart!" the weaver replies;
And so the fisherman brought
That night a fish of wondrous size, --
The finest that he had caught.

He opened the fish, when lo and behold!
He found a precious stone, --
A diamond large as the lead he sold,
And bright as the morning sun!

For a thousand guineas the stone he sold
(It was worth a hundred more),
And never, 't is said, in bliss or gold,
Was weaver so rich before.

But often -- to keep her sway, no doubt,
As a genuine woman must --
The wife would say, "I brought it about
By selling the rags and dust!"





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