The Mad (or Poor) Boy

Poor Robin hops around your kitchen,
And pecks in quiet the crumbs,
His feather coat ne'er needs stitching,
No wintry cold benumbs.
With hunger long time George has pin'd,
Keen, keen blows the cold thro' these rags.
But sorrow flits from my mind,
And still I sing, merrily, merrily -

Sweet's the sound of the steeple,
The bells ring blythely to joy -
Ah! give a trifle, good people!
Ah! give to a harmless poor Boy.

Nay, laugh not, honest bystanders -
Laugh not, I pri'thee - fye! fye!
Tho' wild my poor fancy wanders,
It claims a pitiful sigh.
Ah! where are my friends to protect?
Ah! where is a parent's kind care?
They're gone! and I'm doom'd to neglect,
But still I sing merrily, merrily -

Sweet's the sound of the steeple,
The bells ring blythely to joy -
Ah! give a trifle, good people!
Ah! give to a harmless poor Boy.

• The Mad Boy's cry gif midi mov
• The Mad Boy (Nathaniel Gow) gif midi mov

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Copyright © 2001, Jack Campin