Nine feat Fiddlers had good Queen Bess To play her music as she did dress. Behind an arras of horse and hound They sate there scraping delightsome sound. Spangled, bejewelled, her skirts would she Draw o'er a petticoat of cramasie; And soft each string like a bird would sing In the starry dusk of evening. Then slow from the deeps the crisscross bows, Crooning like doves, arose and arose. When, like a cage, did her ladies raise A stiff rich splendour o'er her ribbed stays, Like bumbling bees those four times nine Fingers in melodies loud did pine; Last came her coif and her violet shoon And her virgin face shone out like the moon: Oh, then in a rapture those three times three Fiddlers squealed shrill on their topmost C.
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Text Authorship:
- by Walter De la Mare (1873 - 1956), "The fiddlers", 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 Arthur Shepherd (1880 - 1958), "The fiddlers", published 1948 [ soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2021-02-23
Line count: 18
Word count: 131