I spied John Mouldy in his cellar, Deep down twenty steps of stone; In the dusk he sat a-smiling, Smiling there alone. He read no book, he snuffed no candle; The rats ran in, the rats ran out; And far and near, the drip of water Went whispering about. The dusk was still, with dew a-falling, I saw the Dog Star bleak and grim, I saw a slim brown rat of Norway Creep over him. I spied John Mouldy in his cellar, Deep down twenty steps of stone; In the dusk he sat a-smiling, Smiling there alone.
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Authorship
- by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "John Mouldy", appears in Songs of Childhood, first published 1902 [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 John Woods Duke (1899 - 1984), "John Mouldy", 1958 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889 - 1960), "John Mouldy", op. 30 no. 1, published 1922 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by J. Frederick Keel (1871 - 1954), "John Mouldy", published 1920 [ voice and piano ], from Four "Songs of Childhood" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Thomas Baron Pitfield (1903 - 1999), "John Mouldy", published 1937 [ unison chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Halsey Stevens (1908 - 1989), "John Mouldy", 1955 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Veitch , "John Mouldy", published 1940 [ children's chorus or women's chorus in unison and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Cyril Winn (b. 1886), "John Mouldy", published 1927 [ unison chorus and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-01-09
Line count: 16
Word count: 97