A WELL there is in the west country, And a clearer one never was seen;There is not a wife in the west countryBut has heard
of the Well of St. Keyne.
An oak and an elm tree stand beside, And behind does an ash tree grow;And a willow from the bank above Droops to the water below.
A traveller came to the Well of St. Keyne, Joyfully he drew nigh;For from cock-crow he had been travelling, And there was not a cloud in the sky.
He drank of the water so cool and clear, For hot and thirty was he;And he sat down upon the bank, Under the willow tree.
There came a man from the neighbouring town, At the Well to fill his pail;By the well-side he rested it, And he bade the stranger hail.
"Now, art thou a bachelor, stranger?" quoth he,"For anif thou hast a wife,
The happiest draught thou hast drunk this day That ever thou didst in thy life.
"Or has thy good woman, if one thou hast, Ever here in Cornwall been?
For an if she have I"ll venture my life
She has drunk of the Well of St. Keyne."
"I have left a good woman who never was here,"The stranger hemade reply;
"But that my draught should be better for that, I pray you answer me why.""St Keyne," quoth the Cornishman, "many a time Drank of this crystal Well;And before the angel summoned herShe laid on the water a spell; -
"If the husband, of this gifted Well Shall drink before his wife,A happy man henceforth is he, For he shall be master for life.
"But if the wife should drink of it first, Woe be to the husband then!" -The stranger stooped to the Well of St. Keyne,And drank of the water again.
"You drank of the Well, I warrant, betimes," He to the Cornishman said;But the Cornishman smiled as the stranger spake, And sheepishly shook his head.
"I hastened as soon as the wedding was done, And left my wife in the porch;But in truth she had been wiser than I, For she took a bottle to church!"- ROBERT SOUTHEY Robert Southey (1774-1843), a Lake poet, and author of Life of Nelson.
