by John Keats (1795 - 1821)
Old Meg she was a Gipsy
Language: English
Old Meg she was a Gipsy, And liv'd upon the Moors: Her bed it was the brown heath turf, And her house was out of doors. Her apples were swart blackberries, Her currants pods o' broom; Her wine was dew of the wild white rose, Her book a churchyard tomb. Her Brothers were the craggy hills, Her Sisters larchen trees-- Alone with her great family She liv'd as she did please. No breakfast had she many a morn, No dinner many a noon, And 'stead of supper she would stare Full hard against the Moon. But every morn of woodbine fresh She made her garlanding, And every night the dark glen Yew She wove, and she would sing. And with her fingers old and brown She plaited Mats o' Rushes, And gave them to the Cottagers She met among the Bushes. Old Meg was brave as Margaret Queen And tall as Amazon: An old red blanket cloak she wore; A chip hat had she on. God rest her aged bones somewhere-- She died full long agone!
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Text Authorship:
- by John Keats (1795 - 1821) [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 Margaret Ruthven Lang (1867 - 1972), "Meg Merriles", 1890 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "Meg Merrilies", op. 138 (Six Songs for Two Sopranos) no. 5, published 1914 [ vocal duet for soprano and alto with piano ], London: J. Curwen & Sons Ltd. [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this page: Nich Roehler
This text was added to the website: 2012-05-20
Line count: 30
Word count: 176