In Hans' old Mill his three black cats Watch the bins for the thieving rats. Whisker and claw, they crouch in the night, Their five eyes smouldering green and bright: Squeaks from the flour sacks, squeaks from where The cold wind stirs on the empty stair, Squeaking and scampering, everywhere. Then down they pounce, now in, now out, At whisking tail, and sniffing snout; While lean old Hans he snores away Till peep of light at break of day; Then up he climbs to his creaking mill, Out come his cats all grey with meal - Jeckel, and Jessup, and one-eyed Jill.
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Confirmed with Peacock Pie. A Book of Rhymes by Walter de la Mare, London: Constable & Co. Ltd., [1920].
Authorship:
- by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "Five eyes", appears in Peacock Pie: A Book of Rhymes, in 5. Beasts, no. 1, first published 1913 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Bainbridge Crist (1883 - 1969), "Five eyes", published 1925 [ voice and piano ], from Queer Yarns, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889 - 1960), "Five eyes", op. 15 (Three Songs) no. 2, published 1922, first performed 1918 [ voice and piano ], note: originally op. 9 no. 3 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889 - 1960), "Five Eyes", published 1948 [ TTBB chorus a cappella ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Juliana Hall (b. 1958), "Five eyes", 1989, first performed 1995 [ tenor and piano ], from Peacock Pie -- 20 songs for Tenor and Piano, no. 13 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ada Twohy Kent (b. 1888), "Five eyes", published 1953 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Hugh Stevenson Roberton, Sir (1874 - 1952), "Five eyes", published 1943 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Peacock Pie [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 102