Strong Poison
from the Guinea Pig Zero Literary Corner
"Where gat ye your dinner, Lord Rendal, my son?
Where gat ye your dinner, my handsome young man?"
"O I dined with my sweetheart, Mother, make my bed soon,
For I'm sick to the heart and I fain wad lie down."
"Oh that was strong poison, Lord Rendal, my son,
O that was strong poison, my handsome young man,"
"O yes, I am poisoned, Mother; make my bed soon,
For I'm sick to the heart, and I fain wad lie down."
-- an old ballad, as quoted in the novel Strong Poison by Dorothy L. Sayers (1938 )