While The Billy BoilsSearchFirst we thought of the river,But the body might be found ;And it did not seem so cruelTo bury it in the ground.So small it seemed, so helpless —I hardened my heart like stone —She kissed it over and over,And then I heard her groan.
I took it out of her bosom :It cried, and cried, and cried ;I carried it down the garden —The moon was bright outside.I dug a hole with a shovelAnd laid the baby down ;1 shovelled the sand upon it —The sand was soft and brown.
But, ah ! its cry was bitter —I scarce could cover it in,And when at last ’t was hiddenI sank beneath my sin.Down at the foot of the garden,Where the moon-made shadows fell,I sold myself to the DevilAnd bought a home in hell.
Down at the foot of the garden,Where the weeds grew rank and wild,Under the shivering willowsI murdered Marian’s child ;My heart was wildly beating,My eyes and cheeks were wet,For I heard the baby crying —O God ! I hear it yet.I hear it crying, crying,Just as I heard it cryIn Marian’s arms in the morningWhen I knew that it must die.
Neither of us was woman —I was the younger one ;And we strove to tell each otherWhat a wise thing we had done.Why should it live to plague us ?Why should it ever beginTravelling roads of trouble,Soiling its soul with sin ?
Marian ! ah, she remembers !In spite of all her tearsSweet children call her motherThese many, many years.Yet when I saw my darling,Her blue eyes seemed to swell :“Annie !” she said, “do you hear it ?Listen ! I hear it well !
In the night I hear it callingWith a muffled, plaintive wail,And my heart stands still to count its sobs,And ever I try and fail ;For I think the depth of my baby’s griefWill never fathomed beTill the fires are lit in the bottomless pitTo blast eternity.”
Once in a southern cityJoy came into my life —He loved me, kissed me, thought meWorthy to be his wife . . .No, I will never marry.God ! I had rather die —If ever I had a baby’T would curse me with its cry !For down at the foot of the garden,Where the moon-made shadows fell,I sold myself to the DevilAnd bought a home in hell.