The Old Man in the

Mountain Wants a Wife….

I’ve lived a cold and stony life

Above earth’s bickerings and strife,

But now I want a bonny wife

   To cheer my lonely hours.

I want a maiden young and fair,

With sunny eyes and silken hair,

The grandeur of my throne to share

   Queen of these woodland bowers.

A low voiced maid, whose lightest word

Is sweet as note of early bird,

That I with rapture oft have heard

   Among these granite hills.

A heart from artifice as free

As heart of woman e’er can be;

Smiling on all – yet true to me –

   The thought my bosom thrills.

Now is such maiden can you find

And she to wed me is inclined,

My fate with her’s I’ll gladly fbind

   Forever and forever.

And if to her I prove untrue

May heaven withold it’s rain and dew,

And naugth but ill my path pursue

   Till death these ties shall sever.

But if this maiden young and fair

With sunny eyes and silken hair

To scale this mountain should not dare

   Not even for my sake;

Then when the winds of evening sigh

Look not for me on mountain high;

You’ll find me where the shadows lie

   Deep down in Profile Lake.

– Mrs. J. W. Gray, Easton NH – date unknown