Songs, Ballads, and Other Poems by the late Thomas Haynes Bayly; Edited by his Widow. With A Memoir of the Author. In Two Volumes |
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DON'T SING ENGLISH BALLADS. |
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 | Songs, Ballads, and Other Poems |  |
DON'T SING ENGLISH BALLADS.
I
I hate English ballads, don't sing them,I wish Cousin John wouldn't bring them,
In the fire I beg you to fling them,
And sing in a loftier key.
I've bought you a new grand piano,
Your voice is a charming soprano,
Then don't sing such trumpery, ah, no,
Don't sing English ballads to me!
II
“We met,” from your memory drive it,“The Soldier's Tear,” shall I survive it?
Do wipe it away love, for private
The tear of a private should be;
What ditty is this you've your hand on?
“Isle of Beauty!” that ballad abandon,
It's an isle I have no wish to land on;
Don't sing English ballads to me!
229
III
The English words seem so phlegmatic,Italian is aristocratic,
I know that the sound is ecstatic,
Whatever the meaning may be;
I don't mean to say that I know it,
As for learning, I'd not undergo it!
If ignorant why should we show it;
Don't sing English ballads to me!
IV
I've now got the music book ready,Do sit up and sing like a lady,
A recitative from Tancredi,
And something about “Palpiti,”
Sing forte when first you begin it,
Piano the very next minute,
They'll cry “what expression there's in it;”
Don't sing English ballads to me!
| Songs, Ballads, and Other Poems | |