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by John Scott of Amwell (1731 - 1783)

The drum
Language: English 
I hate that drum's discordant sound,
Parading round, and round, and round:
To thoughtless youth it pleasure yields,
And lures from cities and from fields,
To sell their liberty for charms
Of tawdry lace, and glittering arms;
And when Ambition's voice commands,
To march, and fight, and fall, in foreign lands.

I hate that drum's discordant sound,
Parading round, and round, and round;
To me it talks of ravag'd plains,
And burning towns, and ruin'd swains,
And mangled limbs, and dying groans,
And widows' tears, and orphans' moans;
And all that Misery's hand bestows,
To fill the catalogue of human woes.

Text Authorship:

  • by John Scott of Amwell (1731 - 1783), "The drum" [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 Ned Rorem (1923 - 2022), "The drum", 2002 [ medium voice, violin, cello, and piano ], from Aftermath, no. 1, Boosey & Hawkes [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2013-09-11
Line count: 16
Word count: 101

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