The Songs, &c. in the Cabinet of fancy: or evening exhibition As it is performed at the Theatre-Royal in the Hay-market [by G. A. Stevens] |
 | SONGS, &c. IN THE CABINET OF FANCY. |
 | [1]. |
| 2. |
| 3. |
 | The Songs, &c. in the Cabinet of fancy: or evening exhibition |  |
7
SONGS, &c. IN THE CABINET OF FANCY.
[1]. [FIRST PART]
RECITATIVE.
[Arise, and bid adieu to care]
Arise, and bid adieu to care,Speak my words, and banish fear;
In this magic wand reside
Fancy's frolics, pow'r and pride.
Lightly touch then Satire's ground,
Scatter all my follies round;
Come, come quick the rites prepare,
Speak my words, and banish fear.
8
AIR.
[IN Pantomimes sure all allow]
[I]
IN Pantomimes sure all allowHobgoblins may assist the shew;
To help a new-contriv'd vagary,
Suppose me, sir, your sylph or fairy.
II
The world is now extravagancy,And sure delight in me, Miss Fancy;
Old dame Invention sends me here,
In statu quo—see—I appear!
III
As whim, if not well taken, teizes,Just so as jest or fancy pleases,
Pray damp not this odd undertaking,
But smile at Fancy's merry-making.
AIR II.
[THE world's a stage, as Authors say]
[I]
THE world's a stage, as Authors say,This world's a stage, and life a play;
Some play by rote, and some by rule,
Some act the knave, some play the fool.
9
II
At childish fairs the round-abouts,The ups and downs, the ins and outs,
The trumpet's sound, and trump'ry gay things,
Are emblems o'th' passion's play-things.
III
The world's a fair of shew and noise,And traps for o'ergrown girls or boys;
The juggler, Hope, deceives the senses,
But bubble, Life, must pay expences.
AIR III.
[COME to our chearful springs—then come]
[I]
COME to our chearful springs—then come,Mortals, obey our friendly call;
We'll send you smiling wand'rers home,
With temperance, and health to all.
II
See from our vale a fountain rise;For you in balmy streams it rolls:
Money ye need not bring—that prize
For wine and oil—it loaths our souls.
10
III
Hearken to us with pleasing care,And freely taste substantial food;
The sweetness of our cottage share,
And say our coarse repast is good.
AIR IV.
[KEEP your distance, and pray do not dare]
KEEP your distance, and pray do not dareTo touch me with your paws of a Bear;
In temper you're mulish,
In feature you're foolish;
From your reading I nought can discover—
With another guess lass,
Perhaps you may pass—
I'll ne'er have a book for a lover.
AIR V.
[Send me some post, I'm fit for place]
Send me some post, I'm fit for place,And I'll have done with riot:
May heav'n grant the great ones grace,
But let me dine in quiet!
11
AIR VI.
[I'LL sing you a song, and I'll sing all about it]
[I]
I'LL sing you a song, and I'll sing all about it,Or in tune, or out on't, you need not to doubt it:
My tune is—Tol lol, de rol lol.
What's under, or in't, wit may take it or rout it,
Perhaps has a meaning, perhaps is without it;
It may be thought smart—but that won't be a wonder;
It may be a single, or double entendre.
So—Tol de rol lol, lol de rol.
II
There are scurvy compounds of bon ton and fine taste;Putrefactions to wit—and sense running to waste.
Like a reptile, poor Humour now crawls on the earth,
And Laughter, 'pon honour, is afraid of its birth.
Tol de rol lol.
III
I have laugh'd at Old Nick,Gave the Devil a kick;
Punch, his arguments who could withstand?
Who would dare to oppose,
Why I pluck'd by the nose,
So had wit, sir, at each finger's end.
Tol de rol lol.
12
IV
The town's a raree-show, some say,A rare shew for projectors,
What pity 'tis we spoil the play
For want of better actors!
But sometimes in, and sometimes out,
'Tis so upon all stages;
Folks will not mind what they're about,
But only mind the wages.
Tol de rol lol.
V
As to Shakespear and Purcell, why you may allowThey were well enough once—but they will not do now.
Ben Jonson was clever, just clever, that's all;
But Harlequin now, faith, is quite—tol de rol.
Sing tantarara, tol lol.
VI
I'll excel in Bon Ton, as Genius and Critic,And be quite the thing, sir, “Immense Scientific;”
On all exhibitions give sentence by guess,
With shrugs, and stol'n phrases, that nonsense express.
Sing tantarara, tol lol.
13
VII
If Merit dare speak, and he's known to be poor,Knock him down with a bett, then my triumph's secure;
For money's the thing, the grand thing that procures
Full work for the wits, when she forms connoisseurs.
Sing tantarara, tol lol.
VIII
But enough has been said, and enough has been sung;Remember, dear friends, keep good watch o'er your tongue.
I have no more to say—to an end I am come;
My rhymes are all out, so I'll dance and be mum.
Sing tantarara, tol lol.
Sing tantarara, mum, mum.
End of the First Part.
14
2. SECOND PART.
AIR I.
[Let us laugh, while laughing is good]
[I]
Let us laugh, while laughing is good,For Mirth fit subjects were now;
We only laugh where we shou'd;
'Tis pity but all knew how.
To laugh's the jest,
The rational jest,
It is life's better half;
What's life we say,
But a laugh and away?—
Away, while we live with a laugh.
II
We'll laugh at wit's running to waste,Well laugh at the follies we view:
So we laugh at what is call'd Fate,
And what it is other folks do.
In vain those rhimes
Which rail at the times,
A better receipt we've by half:
What's life we say,
But a laugh and away?—
Away, while we live with a laugh.
15
AIR II.
[IN life's merry morning, while maidens we are]
[I]
IN life's merry morning, while maidens we are,We hurry and clatter about:
This day to an auction, to-night to a play,
To-morrow the op'ra and rout.
II
We go where we please, we talk as we sit,We can laugh, or be loud, or be still:
O, 'tis life's summer morn, 'tis the holiday time
When lasses may do what they will!
AIR III.
[LET smoke and shot fly o'er my head]
[I]
LET smoke and shot fly o'er my head,Let trade, and wealth, and friends be gone;
Let sheers be rusty, needle fled,
Now I'm a man—my sword is drawn.
II
Yes, I have found the ground whereinTrue glory's game I'll safely play;
My heart's the middle skittle-pin,
No common bowl can knock away.
16
AIR IV.
[COME all ye beaux]
[I]
COME all ye beaux,In fine rich clothes,
Who tradesmen are trepanning,
And you shall own,
What's often known,
Your honours want japanning.
II
Ye gamesters great,Who ride in state,
Who're rich in many manors,
As my black ball
Can cover all,
Let me japan your honours.
III
Kept misses fineIn di'monds shine,
And scheme to take each man in;
T'cover a crack,
They sometimes lack
A little of my japanning.
17
IV
I hold it good,Who sticks i'th' mud,
Should use my fine black ball, sirs;
Since now-a-days
We've dirty ways,
Ye want japanning all, sirs.
DUETTO V.
[BY the blush of the spring's ruddy morn]
HE.BY the blush of the spring's ruddy morn,
By the fragrance of sweet-breathing May,
By the dew-drop empearl'd on the thorn,
By the chirruping bird on the spray—
HE.
By the king-cup that gilds the green mead,
By the bee that the woodbine now sips,
By the flock—see where tinkling they feed,
By the life-touch from off thy sweet lips—
BOTH.
I swear by the jessamine bow'r,
I swear by the clouds that are blue,
I never will live to that hour,
The hour I am faithless to you.
18
AIR VI.
[AT the Pantheon nam'd]
JOAN.AT the Pantheon nam'd,
By my foot I'll be sham'd,
Tho' glorious the night to recall;
With fine folks advancing,
We're stopp'd in our dancing,
And tumbled about—tol de rol.
PUNCH.
Joan! this thing or that,
Tol de rol, it's a cap;
The taste I'm sure all must extol:
Cap suppos'd, not express'd,
What my wife tho' likes best,
So here's my wife's tol de rol lol.
RECITATIVE.
[And I pronounce to-night I will dance a cowtillun]
JOAN.And I pronounce to-night I will dance a cowtillun,
With Deputy Dripping's son, 'Squire Muck Millon;
Tho' I vow I'm so fluster'd, I'm ready to faint,
And, bless me! I have not yet put on my paint.
19
Paint, Joan! no, in that name you are wrong;
'Tis not paint, for 'tis rouge—that is the ton.
JOAN.
Much better than you sure, fine language I knows.
At boarding-school bred up, my impertinent spouse!
I'm a fine lady to grace the Pantheon.
PUNCH.
Yes, you're a fine lady—where owls set the fashion.
JOAN.
—Punch! don't put me in a passion,
For tho'f you're my husband, and husbands you know,
Like cyphers on coaches, are worn but for shew.
I am your wife, and a wife you shan't snub;
I scorn to call names, Punch, but you're a scrub.
I'll shew you—
PUNCH.
Ay do—
JOAN.
You're a wretch and a Tony.
PUNCH.
'Pon honour now I'm a true macaroni.
20
I marry'd your mistress for better for worse;
But I swear from that day, ev'n unto this minute,
'Tis all worse and worse, and there's no better in it.
AIR VII.
[WHEN a man is marry'd, he's undone]
PUNCH.WHEN a man is marry'd, he's undone;
Wife,
Strife,
Such wretched life!
Mangling,
Wrangling,
Like bells jangling,
Holding,
Scolding,
'Tis the ton.
JOAN.
When a woman's marry'd, she's undone;
Then
Men,
Nine out of ten,
21
Tearing,
Overbearing,
Drinking,
Sinking.
That's the ton.
BOTH.
He.
When a man is marry'd he's undone
She.
When a woman's marry'd she's undone
She.
Spouse,
He.
Blouze.
She.
Don't anger rouze,
Traitor!
He.
Creature!
She.
Such ill-nature!
Conscience!
He.
Nonsense!
She.
Sirrah, take that. Fight off.
He.
Hussey, take that. Fight off.
End of the Second Part.
22
3. THIRD PART.
AIR I.
[In dressing, dancing, visits—play]
[I]
In dressing, dancing, visits—play,We rout all night, and rake all day;
While mean mechanics carp and coil,
And waste their lives in weary toil.
Love's raptur'd rites are secret joys,
Profan'd by sots—and babbling boys;
With prittling, prattling, all day long,
Most dance to the echo—of their tongue.
II
The longest life is but a span,Let's make the most of ours we can;
For court, assemblies, Park—that chace,
Pray leave for foplings to embrace,
Themselves to shew—then hark away
To join the statesman that's in play;
While, prittling, prattling, all day long,
We dance to the echo of our tongue.
23
AIR II.
[THE courting cat—to miss Grimalkin]
[I]
THE courting cat—to miss Grimalkin,Purring, over pantiles stalking,
Plaintive he, his Tabby calling,
She as plaintive—catterwauling.
II
Murmuring cats, to cats will mutter,Garrets climb, and scale the gutter;
Pur—to pur—mew—to mewing,
In true taste of tender wooing.
AIR III.
[WITH cliffs, and with chords]
WITH cliffs, and with chords,Your fifths, eights, and thirds,
Are technical titles, I grant ye,
With volti—arpegio,
De capo—adageo,
Pianissimo, largo, andante
24
RECITATIVE.
[Orpheus was music-master to the woods]
Orpheus was music-master to the woods,Gave groves a gamut, put in tune the floods;
He made tall trees a minuet step advance in,
Taught hedges hornpipes, shrubberies country-dancing;
For every reptile he had songs and jiggs,
And symphonies compos'd for Guiney-pigs.
AIR IV.
[FOR weazles and rats]
[I]
FOR weazles and rats,He had both sharps and flats;
For dogs barking, largo and affetto.
From the grinding of knives,
And the scolding of wives,
He compos'd a dismallo duetto.
II
He made of frogs croaks,And the kawing of rooks,
And cats catterwauling, arpegios
Found in B—that cocks crow,
Bulls sound E below;
And sucking-pigs squeak out Adagios.
25
AIR V.
[ON gold and di'monds let men gaze]
ON gold and di'monds let men gaze,And you'll the prize of Venus blaze.
AIR VI.
[GO send a sigh with ev'ry glance]
GO send a sigh with ev'ry glance,And drop a crafty tear;
Strange fate! no farther to advance,
Keep conscience back and fear.
AIR VII.
[SOON a kiss you shall gain]
SOON a kiss you shall gain,I'm not bound to explain;
Then a wink and two nods, do not count less,
Keep your eyes without guile,
Only twinkle and smile,
You'll strait lace the stays of a Countess.
26
AIR LAST.
[THO' Learning, with her classic train]
[I]
THO' Learning, with her classic trainOf art, and scientific skill,
The pomp of Wisdom's praise obtain,
Let Folly claim but your good will.
II
The heart, not head, 's my social seat,Where honest Sympathy attends;
Proud Reason scorns me, when we meet,
But grateful Mirth and I are friends.
III
Wheree'er I come, I drive old Care,Nor strive to ransack ev'ry tome;
Come high, come low, all strait appear,
And feast at Folly's harvest home.
CHORUS.
Come high, come low, all strait appear,And feast at Folly's harvest home.
THE END.
| The Songs, &c. in the Cabinet of fancy: or evening exhibition | |