Who said 'Peacock Pie'?
  The old King to the sparrow:
Who said 'Crops are ripe'?
  Rust to the harrow:
Who said, 'Where sleeps she now?
  Where rests she now her head,
Bathed in eve's loveliness' ?--
  That's what I said.

Who said, 'Ay, mum's the word'?
  Sexton to willow:
Who said, 'Green dusk for dreams,
  Moss for a pillow'?
Who said, 'All Time's delight
  Hath she for narrow bed;
Life's troubled bubble broken'? -
  That's what I said.

About the headline (FAQ)

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada and the U.S., but it may still be copyright in other legal jurisdictions. The LiederNet Archive makes no guarantee that the above text is public domain in your country. Please consult your country's copyright statutes or a qualified IP attorney to verify whether a certain text is in the public domain in your country or if downloading or distributing a copy constitutes fair use. The LiederNet Archive assumes no legal responsibility or liability for the copyright compliance of third parties.

Confirmed with Peacock Pie. A Book of Rhymes by Walter de la Mare, London: Constable & Co. Ltd., [1920], p. 175.

Text Authorship:

• by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "The Song of the Mad Prince", appears in Peacock Pie: A Book of Rhymes, in 8. Songs, no. 6, first published 1913 [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 István Anhalt (1919 - 2012), "The song of the mad prince", 1951 [ SSA chorus a cappella ], from Three Songs of Love [sung text not yet checked]
• by Richard Rodney Bennett (1936 - 2012), "The Song of the Mad Prince", 1986 [ voice or unison chorus and piano ], from Dream-Songs, no. 4, confirmed with a concert programme booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Ina Boyle (1889 - 1967), "Song of the Mad Prince", 1956 [ voice and piano ], from Three Songs by Walter de la Mare, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by John Emeléus , "The song of the mad prince", published 1961 [ 2-part chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889 - 1960), "The mad prince", 1921, published 1922 [ voice and piano or strings ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Juliana Hall (b. 1958), "The song of the mad prince ", 1989, first performed 1995 [ tenor and piano ], from Peacock Pie -- 20 songs for Tenor and Piano, no. 19 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ethel Florence Lindesay Robertson, née Richardson (1870 - 1946), as Henry Handel Richardson, "Peacock Pie" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this page: Ted Perry

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 76