Explore "The Franklin's Maid" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
(_From_ ‘_The White Company_')
The franklin he hath gone to roam, / The franklin's maid she bides at home; / But she is cold, and coy, and staid, / And who may win the franklin's maid?
There came a knight of high renown / In bassinet and ciclatoun; / On bended knee full long he prayed- / He might not win the franklin's maid.
There came a squire so debonair, / His dress was rich, his words were fair. / He sweetly sang, he deftly played- / He could not win the franklin's maid.
There came a mercer wonder-fine, / With velvet cap and gaberdine; / For all his ships, for all his trade, / He could not buy the franklin's maid.
There came an archer bold and true, / With bracer guard and stave of yew; / His purse was light, his jerkin frayed- / Haro, alas! the franklin's maid!
Oh, some have laughed and some have cried, / And some have scoured the countryside; / But off they ride through wood and glade, / The bowman and the franklin's maid.