How happy's the husband

How happy's the Husband, whose Wife has been try'd!
Not Damn'd to the Bed of an Ignorant Bride?
Secure of what's left, he ne're misses the rest,
But where there's enough, supposes a Feast;
	 So foreknowing the Cheat,
	 He escapes the Deceit,
And in spite of the Curse, resolves to be Blest.

If Children are Blessings, his Comfort's the more,
Whose Spouse has been known to be Fruitful before;
And the Boy that she brings ready made to his Hand,
May stand him instead, for an Heir to his Land,
	 Shou'd his own prove a Sot,
	 When he's Lawfully Got,
As when e're 'tis so, if he don't, I'le be hang'd.

Submitted by Virginia Knight

Authorship

• by William Congreve (1670 - 1729) [ 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 Henry Purcell (1658/9 - 1695), "How happy's the husband", Z. 582, from Incidental Music to Love Triumphant, no. 1. [
   text verified 1 time
  ]

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project, and I have been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your gift is greatly appreciated.      - Emily Ezust

Browse imslp.org (Petrucci Music Library) for Lieder or choral works