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by Marjory Fleming (1803 - 1811)

A melancholy lay
Language: English 
Three Turkeys fair their last have breathed
And now this worled for ever leaved
Their father and their mother too
Will sigh and weep as well as you
Mourning for their offspring fair
Whom they did nurse with tender care
Indeed the rats their bones have cranch'd
To Eternity are they launched
Their graceful form and pretty eyes
Their fellow fowls did not despise
A direful death indeed they had
That would put any parent mad
But she was more than usual calm
She did not give a single dam
Here ends this melancholy lay
Farewell poor turkeys I must say

Text Authorship:

  • by Marjory Fleming (1803 - 1811) [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 Richard Rodney Bennett (1936 - 2012), "A melancholy lay", 1969, from A Garland for Marjory Fleming, no. 2. [
     text verified 1 time
    ]

Researcher for this page: Carol Rasmussen

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 101

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