| Harriet Monroe, ed. (1860–1936). Poetry: A Magazine of Verse. 1912–22. | | | | The Day before the Wedding | | By Florence Randal Livesay |
| | From “Slavic Songs”
The bride sings to her lover:
Broad were the leaves on the lofty tree— | |
| Why came you not last night to me? | |
| I wonder! But of course | |
| Maybe you had no horse! | |
| Maybe you lost your way! | 5 |
| Your mother made you stay? | |
| |
Her lover replies:
I had the horse and the way I knew, | |
| And my mother kept me not from you. | |
| |
| But my youngest sister loves you not. | |
| She hid my saddle in some strange spot. | 10 |
| |
| My oldest sister sought and found— | |
| Swift on my horse’s back ’twas bound. | |
| |
| She whispered, “Try and get there soon, | |
| Riding along by the light o’ the moon! | |
| |
| “In body brave keep a good head, | 15 |
| Brother o’ mine,” she laughing said. | |
| |
| “In Sweetheart Land there’s much to learn, | |
| The road has many a curve and turn. | |
| |
| “Don’t lose your horse, don’t go astray! | |
| Ride—ere yet dawns your wedding day.” | 20 | | | |
|
|
