Gold locks, and black locks, Red locks and brown, Topknot to love-curl The hair wisps down; Straight above the clear eyes, Rounded round the ears, Snip-snap and snick-a-snick, Clash the Barber's shears; Us, in the looking-glass, Footsteps in the street, Over, under, to and fro, The lean blades meet; Bay Rum or Bear's Grease, A silver groat to pay - Then out a-shin-shan-shining In the bright, blue day.
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Authorship:
- by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "The barber's", appears in Peacock Pie: A Book of Rhymes, in 1. Up and Down, no. 17, first published 1913 [author's text not yet checked 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 Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889 - 1960), "The barber's", 1932, published 1933 [ voice and piano ], from Five Children's Songs From Peacock Pie, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-01-12
Line count: 16
Word count: 68