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by Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936)

I was very well pleased with what I...
Language: English 
I was very well pleased with what I knowed,
I reckoned myself no fool --
Till I met with a maid on the Brookland Road,
That turned me back to school. 

 Low down -- low down!
 Where the liddle green lanterns shine --
 O maids, I've done with 'ee all but one,
 And she can never be mine! 

'Twas right in the middest of a hot June night,
With thunder duntin' round,
And I see her face by the fairy-light
That beats from off the ground.

She only smiled and she never spoke,
She smiled and went away;
But when she'd gone my heart was broke
 And my wits was clean astray.

O, stop your ringing and let me be --
Let be, O Brookland bells!
You'll ring Old Goodman out of the sea,
Before I wed one else!

Old Goodman's Farm is rank sea-sand,
And was this thousand year;
But it shall turn to rich plough-land
Before I change my dear.

O, Fairfield Church is water-bound
From autumn to the spring;
But it shall turn to high hill-ground
Before my bells do ring.

O, leave me walk on Brookland Road,
In the thunder and warm rain --
O, leave me look where my love goed,
And p'raps I'll see her again!

 Low down -- low down!
 Where the liddle green lanterns shine --
 O maids, I've done with 'ee all but one,
 And she can never be mine! 

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936), "Brookland Road", appears in Rewards and Fairies, first published 1910 [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 Peter Bellamy (b. 1944), "Brookland Road", published 1971 [unaccompanied male voice], from Oak, Ash and Thorn, no. 11, London, Robbins Music Corp. [
     text not verified 
    ]
  • by Martin Edward Fallas Shaw (1875 - 1958), "The Brookland Road", published 1919. [baritone and piano] [
     text not verified 
    ]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2013-05-31
Line count: 36
Word count: 232

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