The Cricket (Jacob Franklin King)
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- (Posted 2023-11-06) CPDL #76984:
- Editor: David Anderson (submitted 2023-11-06). Score information: Letter, 8 pages, 484 kB Copyright: Personal
- Edition notes:
General Information
Title: The Cricket
Composer: Jacob Franklin King
Lyricist: William Cowper
Number of voices: 4vv Voicing: SATB
Genre: Secular, Partsong
Language: English
Instruments: A cappella
First published: 1894 J. F. King, publisher
Description:
External websites:
Original text and translations
English text
Little inmate, full of mirth,
Chirping on my kitchen hearth,
Wheresoe’er be thine abode
Always harbinger of good,
Pay me for thy warm retreat
With a song more soft and sweet;
In return thou shalt receive
Such a strain as I can give.
Thus thy praise shall be expressed,
Inoffensive, welcome guest!
While the rat is on the scout,
And the mouse with curious snout,
With what vermin else infest
Every dish, and spoil the best;
Frisking thus before the fire,
Thou hast all thy heart’s desire.
Though in voice and shape they be
Formed as if akin to thee,
Thou surpassest, happier far,
Happiest grasshoppers that they are;
Theirs is but a summer’s song,—
Thine endures the winter long,
Unimpaired and shrill and clear,
Melody throughout the year.