Don't ceäre (Barnes, set by J. Carpenter) (The Lied and Art Song Texts Page: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music)


At the feäst, I do mind very well, all the vo'ks
  Wer a-took in a happeren storm,
But we chaps took the maïdens, an' kept 'em wi' clokes
  Under shelter, all dry an' all warm;
An' to my lot vell Jeäne, that's my bride,
  That did titter, a-hung at my zide;
Zaid her aunt, "Why the vo'k 'ull talk finely o' you!"
  An' cried she, "I don't ceäre if they do."

When the time o' the feäst wer ageän a-come round,
  An' the vo'k wer a-gather'd woonce mwore,
Why, she guess'd if she went there, she'd soon be around
  An' a-took seäfely hwome to her door.
Zaid her mother, "Tis sure to be wet."
  Zaid her cousin, "T'ull rain by zunzet."
Zaid her aunt, "Why the clouds there do look black an' blue."
  An' zaid she, "I don't ceäre if they do."

An' at last, when she own'd I mid meäke her my bride,
  Vor to help me, an' sheäre all my lot,
An' wi' faithvulness keep all her life at my zide,
  Though my way mid be happy or not, 
Zaid her naïghbours, "Why wedlock's a clog,
  An' a wife's a-tied up lik' a dog."
Zaid her aunt, "You'll vind trials enough vor to rue,"
  An', zaid she, "I don't ceäre if I do."

Now she's married, an' still in the midst ov her tweils
  She's as happy's the daylight is long,
She do goo out abroad wi' her feäce vull o' smiles,
  An' do work in the house wi' a zong.
An', zays woone, "She don't grieve, you can tell."
  Zays another, "Why don't she look well!"
Zays her aunt, "Why the young vo'k do envy you two,"
  An' zays she, "I don't ceäre if they do."

Now vor me I can zing in my business abrode,
  Though the storm do beät down on my poll,
There's a wife-brighten'd vier at the end o' my road,
  An' her love vor the jay o' my soul.
Out o' door I wi' rogues mid be tried:
  Out o' door be brow-beäten wi' pride;
Men mid scowl out o' door, if my wife is but true --
  Let em scowl, "I don't ceäre if they do."

Input by Geoffrey Wieting

Authorship

William Barnes (1801-1886)

Poems of rural life in the Dorset dialect

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

John Alden Carpenter (1876-1951)

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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