Matilda Jane, you never look

Matilda Jane, you never look
At any toy or picture-book:
I show you pretty things in vain --
You must be blind, Matilda Jane!

I ask you riddles, tell you tales,
But all our conversation fails:
You never answer me again --
I fear you're dumb, Matilda Jane!

Matilda, darling, when I call,
You never seem to hear at all:
I shout with all my might and main --
but you're so deaf, Matilda Jane!

Matilda Jane, you needn't mind:
For, though you're deaf, and dumb, and blind,
There's some one loves you, it is plain --
And that is me, Matilda Jane!

About the headline (FAQ)

Authorship

• by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832 - 1898), as Lewis Carroll, appears in Sylvie and Bruno Concluded, Chapter V (Matilda Jane), first published 1893 [ author's text checked 1 time]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

• by Gary Bachlund , "Bessie's song to her doll", 2014. [mezzo-soprano and piano] [ sung text verified 1 time]
• by Ulf A. Grahn , "Matilda Jane", published 1996, first performed 1996. [ sung text not verified ]

Text added to the website: 2004-04-11.
Last modified: 2015-06-24 15:59:07
Line count: 16
Word count: 99

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