by William Blake (1757 - 1827)
This city and this country has brought...
Language: English
This city and this country has brought forth many mayors To sit in state, and give forth laws out' of their old oak chairs, With face as brown as any nut with drinking of strong ale -- Good English hospitality, O then it did not fail! With scarlet gowns and broad gold lace, would make a yeoman sweat; With stockings roll'd above their knees and shoes as black as jet With eating beef and drinking beer, O they were stout and hale -- Good English hospitality, O then it did not fail! Thus sitting at the table wide the mayor and aldermen Were fit to give law to the city; each ate as much as ten: The hungry poor enter'd the hall to eat good beef and ale -- Good English hospitality, O then it did not fail!
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827), no title, appears in An Island in the Moon, Chapter IX [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 Ernest Bullock, Sir (1890 - 1979), "The mayors", published c1961 [unison chorus], London : Novello [text not verified]
- by Nicolas Flagello (b. 1928), "Good English hospitality", 1964, published 1965 [high voice and piano], from Songs from William Blake's "An Island in the Moon", no. 4. [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-05-24
Line count: 12
Word count: 135