John Keats: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Meg Merrilies

John Keats

“Meg Merrilies” as printed in The Poetical Works of John Keats (1884).

John Keats: Collected Lyrics Text 22 1884 · historical text
Public domainSong lyricsRomantic
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Poetical Works of John Keats, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

Old Meg she was a gipsy,

And lived upon the moors:

Her bed it was the brown heath turf,

And her house was out of doors.

Her apples were swart blackberries,

Her currants, pods o' broom;

Her wine was dew of the wild white rose,

Her book a churchyard tomb.

Her brothers were the craggy hills.

Her sisters larchen trees;

Alone with her great family

She lived as she did please.

No breakfast had she many a morn,

No dinner many a noon.

And, 'stead of supper, she would stare

Full hard against the moon.

Verse 2

But every morn, of woodbine fresh

She made her garlanding,

And, every night, the dark glen yew

She wove, and she would sing.

And with her fingers, old and brown,

She plaited mats of rushes,

And gave them to the cottagers

She met among the bushes.

Old Meg was brave as Margaret Queen,

And tall as Amazon;

An old red blanket cloak she wore,

A ship-hat had she on:

God rest her aged bones somewhere!

She died full long agone!

Credits

Written by John Keats

Words by John Keats. Historical text published in The Poetical Works of John Keats (1884); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Poetical Works of John Keats (1884), “Meg Merrilies”

Every text in this 1884 collected edition is by John Keats (1795-1821), who died more than 200 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide; the edition carries a Wikisource PD-old determination.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

View copyright evidence · Transcription terms (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Retrieved 2026-10-27. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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