'Squire Norton's Song (I)'

The Village Coquettes, An Operatic Burletta in Two Acts (1836). London: John Dicks, p.5.

Internet Archive: Access to the Archive’s Collections is provided at no cost and is granted for scholarship and research purposes only (https://archive.org/about/terms.php).

Dickens, Charles. 'Squire Norton's Song (I).' The Village Coquettes (1836): p. 5. Dickens Search. Eds. Emily Bell and Lydia Craig. Accessed [date]. https://dickenssearch.com/verse/1836_The_Village_Coquettes_Squire_Nortons_SongI.

That very wise head, old Æsop, said,

The bow should be sometimes loose;

Keep it tight for ever, the string you sever: – 

Let’s turn his old moral to use.

The world forget, and let us yet,

The glass our spirits buoying,

Revel to-night, in those moments bright,

Which make life worth enjoying.

The cares of the day, old moralists say,

Are quite enough to perplex one;

Then drive to-day’s sorrow away till to-morrow,

And then put it off till the next one.

Chorus – The cares of the day, &c.

Some plodding old crones, the heartless drones!

Appeal to my cool reflection,

And ask me whether, such nights can ever

Charm sober recollection.

Yes, yes! I cry, I’ll grieve and die,

When those I love forsake me;

But while friends so dear, surround me here,

Let care, if he can, o’ertake me.

Chorus – The cares of the day, &c.