Time, You Old Gipsy Man

TIME, you old gipsy man,
    Will you not stay,
Put up your caravan
    Just for one day?

All things I'll give you
Will you be my guest,
Bells for your jennet
Of silver the best,
Goldsmiths shall beat you
A great golden ring,
Peacocks shall bow to you,
Little boys sing.
Oh, and sweet girls will
Festoon you with may,
Time, you old gipsy,
Why hasten away?

Last week in Babylon,
Last night in Rome,
Morning, and in the crush
Under Paul's dome;
Under Paul's dial
You tighten your rein--
Only a moment,
And off once again;
Off to some city
Now blind in the womb,
Off to another
Ere that's in the tomb.

Time, you old gipsy man,
    Will you not stay,
Put up your caravan
    Just for one day ?

Ralph Hodgson. Poems. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1924.

Gypsy Caravan

Gypsy wagon, Grandborough Fields (UK)
Wikimedia Commons

The wide verge on the west side of Grandborough Fields Road is a popular spot for travelling people. This traditional bowtop living van is quite uncommon - usually, the travelers who use this spot live in modern aluminum caravans. On the day the photo was taken there was no sign of any horses grazing the verge but a flatbed trailer behind the bowtop van suggests it arrived behind a motor vehicle.

Romani wagon in Germany in 1935

The English term Gypsy (or Gipsy) originates from the Middle English gypcian, short for Egipcien.  It was once believed that the Romanies, or some other Gypsy groups originated in Egypt.  The word gypsy is commonly used as a reference to lifestyle or fashion, and not to the Romani ethnicity.