No.17

BEGIN THE BEGUINE
Cole Porter 1891-64

When they begin the beguine
It brings back the sound of music so tender,
It brings back a night of tropical splendour,
It brings back a memory ever green.

I'm with you once more under the stars
And down by the shore an orchestra's playing,
And even the palms seem to be swaying
When they begin the beguine.

To live it again is past all endeavor
Except when that tune clutches my heart,
And there we are swearing to love forever
And promising never, never to part.

What moments divine, what rapture serene,
Till clouds came along to disperse the joys we had tasted,
And now when I hear people curse the chance that was wasted
I know but too well what they mean.

So don't let them begin the beguine,
Let the love that was once a fire remain an ember,
Let it sleep like the dead desire I only remember,
When they begin the beguine.

Oh yes, let them begin the beguine, make them play,
Till the stars that were there before return above you,
Till you whisper to me once more, darling I love you,
And we suddenly know what heaven we're in,
When they begin the beguine.

-o0o-

FROM A RAILWAY CARRIAGE
Robert Louis Stevenson 1850-94

Faster than fairies, faster than witches,   
Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;   
And charging along like troops in a battle,   
All through the meadows the horses and cattle:   
All of the sights of the hill and the plain            
Fly as thick as driving rain;   
And ever again, in the wink of an eye,   
Painted stations whistle by.   
 
Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,   
All by himself and gathering brambles;     
Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;   
And there is the green for stringing the daisies!   
Here is a cart run away in the road   
Lumping along with man and load;   
And here is a mill and there is a river:     
Each a glimpse and gone for ever!

-o0o-

OH! EVER THUS
Thomas Moore 1779-1852

 Oh! ever thus, from childhood's hour,
   I've seen my fondest hopes decay;
 I never loved a tree or flower,
   But 'twas the first to fade away.
 I never nursed a dear gazelle,
   To glad me with its soft black eye,
 But when it came to know me well,
   And love me, it was sure to die!

-o0o-

TWAS EVER THUS
Henry Sambrooke Leigh 1837-83

  

I never rear'd a young gazelle,
(Because, you see, I never tried);
But, had it known and loved me well,
No doubt the creature would have died.
My rich and aged uncle John
Has known me long and loves me well,
But still persists in living on -
I would he were a young gazelle.

I never loved a tree or flower;
But, if I had, I beg to say,
The blight, the wind, the sun, or shower,
Would soon have withered it away.
I've dearly loved my uncle John,
From childhood till the present hour,
And yet he will go living on, -
I would he were a tree or flower!

-o0o-

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