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)
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: 234