The wind's bastinado Whipt on the calico Skin of the Macaroon And the black Picaroon Beneath the galloon Of the midnight sky. Came the great soldan In his sedan Floating his fan- Saw what the sly Shadow's cocoon In the barracoon Held. Out they fly. "This melon, Sir Mammon, Comes out of Babylon: By for a patacoon- Sir, you must buy!" Said il Magnifico Pulling a fico - With a stoccado And a gambado, Making a wry Face: "This corraceous Round orchidaceous Laceous porraceous Fruit is a lie! It is my friend King Pharoah's head That nodding blew out of the Pyramid..." The tree's small corinths Where hard as jacinths, For it is winter and cold winds sigh... No nightingale In her farthingale Of bunched leaves let her singing die.
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Text Authorship:
- by Edith Sitwell (1887 - 1964), appears in Façade, first published 1922 [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 William Walton (1902 - 1983), "The wind's bastinado", from Façade [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Dan Eggleston
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 35
Word count: 129