LiederNet logo

CONTENTS

×
  • Home | Introduction
  • Composers (20,102)
  • Text Authors (19,442)
  • Go to a Random Text
  • What’s New
  • A Small Tour
  • FAQ & Links
  • Donors
  • DONATE

UTILITIES

  • Search Everything
  • Search by Surname
  • Search by Title or First Line
  • Search by Year
  • Search by Collection

CREDITS

  • Emily Ezust
  • Contributors (1,114)
  • Contact Information
  • Bibliography

  • Copyright Statement
  • Privacy Policy

Follow us on Facebook

by Edith Sitwell (1887 - 1964)

Country dance
Language: English 
That hobnailed goblin,
the bob-tailed Hob,
Said, "It is time I began to rob."
For strawberries bob,
hob-nob with the pearls
Of cream
(like the curls of the dairy girls),
And flushed with the heat and
fruitish ripe
Are the gowns of the maids who
dance to the pipe.
Chase a maid?
She's afraid!
"Go gather a bob-cherry kiss from a tree,
But don't, I prithee, come
bothering me!"
She said -
As she fled.
The snouted satyrs drink clouted
cream
'Neath the chestnut-trees is thick as
a dream;
So I went
And leant,
Where none but the doltish coltish wind
Nuzzled my hand for what could find.
As I neighed
I said,
"Don't touch me, sir,
don't touch me, I say,
You'll tumble my strawberries
into the hay.
Those snow-mounds of silver that
bee, the spring,
Has sucked his sweetness from,
I will bring
With fair-haired plants and with
apples chill
For the great god Pan's high altar
...I'll spill
Not one!"
So, in fun
We rolled on the grass and began to
run
Chasing that gaudy satyr the Sun;
Over the haycocks, away we ran
Crying, "Here be berries as
sunburnt as Pan!"
But Silenus
Has seen us...
He runs like the rough satyr Sun.
Come away!

Please note: this text, provided here for educational and research use, is in the public domain in Canada, 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.

Text Authorship:

  • by Edith Sitwell (1887 - 1964), "Country dance", appears in Bucolic Comedies, first published 1923 [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), "Country dance", published 1951, first performed 1926 [ reciter and chamber ensemble ], 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: 52
Word count: 208

Gentle Reminder

This website began in 1995 as a personal project by Emily Ezust, who has been working on it full-time without a salary since 2008. Our research has never had any government or institutional funding, so if you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your help is greatly appreciated!
–Emily Ezust, Founder

Donate

We use cookies for internal analytics and to earn much-needed advertising revenue. (Did you know you can help support us by turning off ad-blockers?) To learn more, see our Privacy Policy. To learn how to opt out of cookies, please visit this site.

I acknowledge the use of cookies

Contact
Copyright
Privacy

Copyright © 2025 The LiederNet Archive

Site redesign by Shawn Thuris