You Are Old, Father William
Language:
English
"You are old, father William," the young man said,
"And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head--
Do you think, at your age, it is right?"
"In my youth," father William replied to his son,
"I feared it might injure the brain;
But now that I'm perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again."
"You are old," said the youth, "as I mentioned before,
And have grown most uncommonly fat;
Yet you turned a back-somersault in at the door--
Pray what is the reason of that?"
"In my youth," said the sage, as he shook his grey locks,
"I kept all my limbs very supple
By the use of this ointment--one shilling the box--
Allow me to sell you a couple?"
"You are old," said the youth, "and your jaws are to weak
For anything tougher than suet;
Yet you finished the goose, with the bones and the beak--
Pray, how did you manage to do it?"
"In my youth," said his father, "I took to the law,
And argued each case with my wife;
And the muscular strength, which it gave to my jaw,
Has lasted the rest of my life."
"You are old," said the youth, "one would hardly suppose
That your eye was as steady as ever;
Yet you balanced an eel on the end of your nose--
What made you so awfully clever?"
"I have answered three questions, and that is enough,"
Said the father. "Don't give yourself airs!
Do you think I can listen all day to such stuff?
Be off, or I'll kick you down stairs!"
Note: this text is a parody of Robert Southey's "The Old Man's Comforts and How he Gained Them."
Authorship
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text),
listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)
Date added to the website: 2004-04-27.
| Gentle Reminder |
This project is not funded.
If you found
the information here useful,
please consider making a donation. Your gift is greatly appreciated!
- Emily
I also have a wishlist at Amazon.ca.
|
|
Search/Shop for
Sheet music:
 Search sheetmusicplus.com for
You Are Old, Father William,
Art song ,
Lieder,
chansons, or works for solo voice
Search musicroom.com for
You Are Old, Father William,
vocal/choral music
CDs:
Search amazon.com for
You Are Old, Father William,
art song,
Lieder, or
chansons
Search amazon.ca for
You Are Old, Father William,
art song,
Lieder, or
chansons
Books:
The Art of the Song Recital [amazon.com]
The Book of Lieder: The Original Texts of Over 1000 Songs [amazon.com]
Search amazon.com for
art song, Lieder, or
chansons
Search amazon.ca for
art song,
lieder, or
chansons
|
