by Allan Ramsay (1686 - 1758)
The bonny gray ey'd morn
Language: English
The bonnie grey-ey'd morn begins to peep, And darkness flies before the rising ray, The hearty hynd starts from his lazy sleep, To follow healthful labours of the day: Without a guilty sting to wrinkle his brow, The lark and the linnet tend his levee, And he joins their concert driving his plow, From toil of grimace and pageantry free. While, fluster'd with wine, or madden'd with loss Of half an estate, the prey of a main, The drunkard and gamester tumble and toss, Wishing for calmness and slumber in vain. Be my portion health and quietness of mind, Plac'd at due distance from parties and state; Where neither ambition nor avarice blind Reach him who has happiness link'd to his fate.
GLOSSARY
Researcher for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani
Bonnie = beautiful
Hearty hynd = farm labourer
Authorship:
- by Allan Ramsay (1686 - 1758) [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 (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), "The bonny gray ey'd morn", Hob. XXXIa no. 101, JHW. XXXII/2 no. 101. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani
This text was added to the website: 2013-03-25
Line count: 16
Word count: 122