by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674)
A Hymn to Bacchus
Language: English
I sing thy praise, Iacchus, Who with thy thyrse dost thwack us: And yet thou so dost back us With boldness, that we fear No Brutus ent'ring here, Nor Cato the severe. What though the lictors threat us, We know they dare not beat us, So long as thou dost heat us. When we thy orgies sing, Each cobbler is a king, Nor dreads he any thing: And though he do not rave, Yet he'll the courage have To call my Lord Mayor knave; Besides, too, in a brave, Although he has no riches, But walks with dangling breeches And skirts that want their stitches, And shows his naked flitches, Yet he'll be thought or seen So good as George-a-Green; And calls his blouze, his queen; And speaks in language keen. O Bacchus! let us be From cares and troubles free; And thou shalt hear how we Will chant new hymns to thee.
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674), "A Hymn to Bacchus" [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 Fritz Bennicke Hart (1874 - 1949), "A Hymn to Bacchus", op. 150 (Five Songs) no. 5 (1941) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2022-01-22
Line count: 28
Word count: 153