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by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928)

When we lay where Budmouth Beach is
Language: English 
When we lay where Budmouth Beach is,
  O, the girls were fresh as peaches,
With their tall and tossing figures and their eyes of blue and brown!
  And our hearts would ache with longing
  As we paced from our sing-songing,
With a smart Clink! Clink! up the Esplanade and down.

  They distracted and delayed us
  By the pleasant pranks they played us,
And what marvel, then, if troopers, even of regiments of renown,
  On whom flashed those eyes divine, O,
  Should forget the countersign, O,
As we tore Clink! Clink! back to camp above the town.

  Do they miss us much, I wonder,
  Now that war has swept us sunder,
And we roam from where the faces smile to where the faces frown?
  And no more behold the features
  Of the fair fantastic creatures,
And no more Clink! Clink! past the parlours of the town?

  Shall we once again there meet them?
  Falter fond attempts to greet them?
Will the gay sling-jacket glow again beside the muslin gown?
  Will they archly quiz and con us
  With a sideway glance upon us,
While our spurs Clink! Clink! up the Esplanade and down?

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), no title, appears in The Dynasts, Act II, Scene 1, first published 1903-8 [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 Gerald Finzi (1901 - 1956), "Budmouth Dears", op. 14 no. 2, published 1933 [ tenor and piano ], from A Young Man's Exhortation, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Ethel Florence Lindesay Robertson, née Richardson (1870 - 1946), as Henry Handel Richardson, "Budmouth Dears" [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Martin Edward Fallas Shaw (1875 - 1958), "Budmouth Dears", published 1927 [ satb chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Boyton Smith (b. 1837), "Budmouth Dears", first performed 1912 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 191

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