But I said, "That I will not."
And I pushed him away,
Out among the raspberries all on a summer day.
And I says, "You ask in winter, if your love's so hot,
For it's summer now, and sunny, and my hands is full," says I,
"With the fair by and by,
And the village dance and all;
And the turkey poults is small,
And so's the ducks and chicks,
And the hay not yet in ricks,
And the flower-show'll be presently and hop-picking's to come,
And the fruiting and the harvest home,
And my new white gown to make, and the jam all to be done.
Can't you leave a girl alone?
Your love's too hot for me!
Can't you leave a girl be
Till the evenings do draw in,
Till the leaves be getting thin,
Till the fires be lighted early, and the curtains drawed for tea?
That's the time to do your courting, if you come a-courting me!"

* * *

And he took it as I said it, an' not as it was meant.
And he went.

* * *

The hay was stacked, the fruit was picked, the hops were dry and
brown,