Delaware state journal. [volume] (Wilmington, Del.) 1870-1883, 1873-05-17
A NEW STORY In VERSE.
Betsy Lee-A Foes ls Yarn-A Peep at
the Advance Sheets


From Macmillan & Co. we have re-
ceived the advance sheets Of Betsy Lee"
a sailors yarn told on the forecastle-
told in verse that sometimes llmpe, and
does not always rhyme perfectlY-but told
freahly, manfully and with the sparkle l
and changeful motion Of the sea. II is q
story Of love, of course, and proyokes the
smuggling and chafiin y of Tommy
Bayne's messmates, but sometimes their
eyes. "ship a sea-" Of salt spray as a |
breath Of pathos steals In the old sailors
narrative.
Betsy Lee, the heroine, was 1ommy'e |
sch oolmate and nelghbor, as he says
"You know the way them houses il tixed, |
mixed;
And the mothers go round when the nights
And Whips up their own and takes them
I'M
OF Betsey's childhood the narrator SAYS
"Not that Betsy was much Of a size
AT the time mean, but she had big eyes,
So big and so blue, and 80 far asunder,
And she looked so sollum used 10 wonder.
That was adjust baby play
Knoekin about the boats all day,
Aud sometimes a lot OF ful takin hands
A nd racin like mad things ever the sands.
All II wouldn be bad for some OF us
If we'd never gone furder, and never
Jared WuH6s
II we'd never grown up. and never got big,
If we'd never took the brandy swig.
II we were skippin and scamp'rin and cap
rim still
On tie sand that lies below the hill,
Cru chin its grey ribs with the beat,
OF our little PATTERN naked feet:
II we'd just keep childher upon the shore
For ever and ever and ever more"
Years passed in the happy simplicity Of
childhood, until one day, when the young
msn grown, saw the knot Of her beau
tiful hair slipped by an insulting hand,
and then he
-'saw her no more
The child hsd always thought her before,
But wrapped In the glory, and wrapped In
Every inch OF woman stood pantin' there,
Then, too, he found that
-'theTe was somethih worth lOvin
! in her
As neat as bird and as straight ss a DR.;
And I've heard them say, as she passed by,
II was like another sun slipped into the
sky
Kind to the old and kind to the young
With a smile on her lip and laugh on her
with a heart to feel, and head to choose,
And she stood just hve feet four in her
shoes.
Oh, I'VE have seen her loOk-well, well, III
Oh, I've seen her turn-well, well, then
drop 1t
The darlin lies now-my God my Godr
With the critical eye of a sailor,
Tommy had judged his true-love by her
foot and thereby found her heart as white
as the fresh-fallen snow. II is an arti-
Gle of bis creed that there are " fleet that
can laugh and feet that can talk" And
/ 40 - "a tpnaoapt foot ha aowa
-"irs got the apring
That you feel when you tread on the noun
And it's tied 70 the heart and not to the hip
And It moves with the eye, and II moves
1 suppose its God that makes when He
Them beautiful things-wlth the lit of His
And the waft of His winds, and His eAlms
And His work and His rest; and that's how
He forms
A simple wench to be true and free,
And to move IKE piece of poethry."
Once in a while Tommy Baynes ven
tures to preach, but when he does so II ls
to give us his quaint Ideas Of natures
handiwork, since he knows nothing Of
books. For instance, he says Of cows +;
"Now aren't they innocent things=them
bEheHl
And havn they got ould innocent faoesf
, strQoghin their legs that lazy way,
. Or standin as II they meant to pray
They're that sollum and loving and study
] and wise,
And the butter meltln in their big ewes
, Eh? what do you think about 1t, Johnf
Is 1t the stuff they're feedin on
The clover and meadow-grass and ruahesi
And then goin pickin among the bushes,
And snifln the dew when it's fresh and hne
The sweeteat brew Of Gods own wine !"
The course of true love runs smoother
, with Tommy Baynes than with others.
, A fortune comes between Betsy Lee and
her lover, and though II wrought no
change ia the worthy maiden, 1t brought
her many sultors. Tommy, in his trouble,
goes to the paBoh, whose portrait he
draws exquisltely;
But Pszon Gale-now I'll give you hi
size,
He was a simple pazon, and lovin wise,
That's what he was, and quiet uncommon,
And never said much to man nor woman
/ Only the little he said was meat
, For hungry heart, and soft and sweet"
q Other parsons the rough sailor had met,
= but they did not take his fancy. He must
have had Talmage In his CvA when he told
6 his messmates
= snow there's some of them pszons they're
q And tearin at you and ravin and routin,
and they gets you pinned with lot ol
u In coop. and they calls you sisthers and
e brOthers:
o And YOU cau't get out.so the beggars raises
. Their vice and give It you like blazes."
= The story of parted loves ls an old QUE
c the same with the sailor's case as with
: others. lie went to sea, she fingered on
in faith, and hope, aud then fell asleep, &c
j. leave her picture forever In The old sail
d or's heart,
"a child to God, woman to me-
}. There is no pretsnce Of genius in the
- story Of Betsy Lee" hut there is some
n thing better for the mass OF readers. II
d has he touch of sympathy that will
q vakeu kiHship In its readers. II will b.
read in tender, softened tones by th'
b evening lamp, and then put aside as no
quite worthy TO take it's place with thu
d classics, but the remembrance of the oil
SAILORS great loYe aud greater forgiveness
/ will not be forgotten In day.