Balance a straw (James Oswald)
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- (Posted 2022-05-15) CPDL #69251:
- Editor: Christopher Shaw (submitted 2022-05-15). Score information: A4, 2 pages, 75 kB Copyright: CC BY SA
- Edition notes: Please click on the link for preview/playback/PDF download.
General Information
Title: Balance a straw
Composer: James Oswald
Lyricist: Tobias Smollett
Number of voices: 1v Voicing: Solo high
Genre: Secular, Aria
Language: English
Instruments: Basso continuo
First published: c.1750
Description: A song arranged by James Oswald, and used by him in the theatre, possibly employing a pre-existing tune. It was quickly absorbed into popular culture (as a country dance tune and with sets of variations, etc.).
External websites:
Original text and translations
English text
rom the man whom I love, though my heart I disguise,
I will freely describe the wretch I despise;
And if he has sense but to balance a straw
He will sure take the hint from the picture I draw.
A wit without sense, without fancy a beau,
Like a parrot he chatters, and struts like a crow;
A peacock in pride, in grimace a baboon,
In courage a hind, in conceit a gascoon.
As a vulture rapacious, in falsehood a fox,
Inconstant as waves, and unfeeling as rocks:
As a tiger ferocious, perverse as a hog,
In mischief an ape, and in fawning a dog.
In a word, to sum up all his talents together,
His heart is of lead, and his brain is of feather:
Yet, if he has sense but to balance a straw,
He will sure take a hint from the picture I draw.