When Lawyers strive to heal a breach
And Parsons practise what they preach:
[Then little Boney he'll pounce down]1,
And march his men on London town!
  Rollicum-rorum, tol-lol-lorum,
  Rollicum-rorum, tol-lol-lay!

When Justices hold equal [scales]2,
And Rogues are only found in [jails]3;
[Then little Boney he'll pounce down]1,
And march his men on London town!
  Rollicum-rorum, tol-lol-lorum,
  Rollicum-rorum, tol-lol-lay!

When Rich Men find their wealth a curse,
And fill therewith the [Poor Man's]4 purse;
[Then little Boney he'll pounce down]1,
And march his men on London town!
  Rollicum-rorum, tol-lol-lorum,
  Rollicum-rorum, tol-lol-lay!

When Husbands with their Wives agree,
And Maids won't wed from modesty;
[Then little Boney he'll pounce down]1,
And march his men on London town!
  Rollicum-rorum, tol-lol-lorum,
  Rollicum-rorum, tol-lol-lay!

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Note: portions of the poem were first published as part of The Trumpet-Major in Good Words (Jan. - Dec. 1880)

¹ Finzi: "Then Boney he'll come pouncing down"
² Holst: "scale"
³ Holst: "jail"
⁴ Holst: "Poor men's"

Text Authorship:

• by Thomas Hardy (1840 - 1928), "The sergeant's song", appears in Wessex Poems and Other Verses, first published 1898 [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 Rutland Boughton (1878 - 1960), "Quick march", published 1924 [ chorus a cappella ], from Four Partsongs  [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gerald Finzi (1901 - 1956), "Rollicum-Rorum", op. 15 no. 6, published 1936 [ baritone and piano ], from Earth and Air and Rain, no. 6 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Hubert James Foss (1899 - 1953), "The sergeant's song", published 1925 [ tenor, baritone, TBar chorus, and piano ], from Seven Poems by Thomas Hardy [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934), "Sergeant's song", op. 15 (Six Songs) no. 3 (1903), published 1903 [ baritone and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by J. Frederick Keel (1871 - 1954), "The sergeant's song", published 1938 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Boyton Smith (b. 1837), "Rollicum-rorum", 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: 132