by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
I do not like thee, Dr. Fell
Language: English
I do not like thee, Dr Fell, The reason why I cannot tell; But this I know, and know full well, I do not like thee, Dr Fell.
The story is told that Tom Brown (1663-1704) was threatened with expulsion by an Oxford don unless he could translate the following epigram by Martial (I, 33, 1): "Non amo te, Sabidi, nec possum dicere quare; Hoch tantum possum dicere, non amo te." The reply was reportedly the text shown above, which was later used as a nursery rhyme (from 1926). Cf. Samuel Barber: A Thematic Catalogue of the Complete Works by Barbara B. Heyman, Oxford University Press, 2012, page 15.
Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [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 Samuel Barber (1910 - 1981), "I do not like thee, Dr. Fell", op. 7 no. 7 (c1918-22) [low voice and piano], from the collection Nursery Songs, or Mother Goose Rhymes Set to Music, no. 7. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Mike Pearson
This text was added to the website: 2015-07-28
Line count: 4
Word count: 28