{"collection":"ring","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/ring/two/two02.htm","path":"ring/two/two02.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/ring/two/two02.htm","text":"The Worm Ouroboros, by E. R. Eddison, [1922]\n \n \nClick to enlarge\nGORICE XII. IN CARC\u00cb\nTRUE Thomas lay on Huntlie bank,\n \u00a0\u00a0A ferlie he spied wi his ee;\n And there he saw a Lady bright\n \u00a0\u00a0Come riding down by the Eildon Tree.\nHer skirt was o the grass-green silk,\n \u00a0\u00a0Her mantle o the velvet fyne,\n At ilka tett of her horse's mane\n \u00a0\u00a0Hung fifty siller bells and nine.\nTrue Thomas he pulld aff his cap,\n \u00a0\u00a0And louted low down on his knee:\n \"Hail to thee, Mary, Queen of Heaven!\n \u00a0\u00a0For thy peer on earth could never be.\"\n\"O no, O no, Thomas,\" she says,\n \u00a0\u00a0\"That name does not belong to me;\n I'm but the Queen of fair Elfland,\n \u00a0\u00a0That am hither come to visit thee.\n\"Harp and carp, Thomas,\" she says,\n \u00a0\u00a0\"Harp and carp alang wi me.\n And if ye dare to kiss my lips,\n \u00a0\u00a0Sure of your bodie I will be.\"\n\"Betide me weal, betide me woe,\n \u00a0\u00a0That weird shall never daunton me.\"\n Syne he has kissed her rosy lips,\n \u00a0\u00a0All underneath the Eildon Tree.\nTHOMAS THE RHYMER","title":"The Worm Ouroboros: Thomas the Rhymer","type":"page"}