WHY DOST THOU SING?
Why dost thou sing? Is it because thou deemest
We love to hear thy sorry quavers ring?
My poor deluded girl, thou fondly dreamest!
Why dost thou sing?
Why dost thou sing? I ask thy sad relations—
They shake their heads, and answer with a sigh.
They can explain thy wild hallucinations
No more than I.
Why dost thou sing? Why wilt thou never weary
Why wilt thou warble half a note too flat?
I can conceive no reasonable theory.
To tell me that.
Why dost thou sing? O Lady, have we ever
In thought or action done thee any wrong?
Then wherefore should'st thou visit us for ever
With thy one song?
Why dost thou sing?—None offers a suggestion,
None dares to do so desperate a thing,
And Echo only answers to my question,
"Why dost thou sing?"
Transcriber's Note:
Page 1: 'exams.' is an abbreviation.
Page 6: Comma moved to correct place after 'PLAYS'.
"—If there's a demand for these Plays, it must be supplied!"
Page 6: 'toughtest' may be correct (poetic licence), or a typo for 'toughest'. Retained.
"As the toughtest old tar who e'er ventured the wave."
Page 11: 'If' corrected to 'It'.
"It looks well if you can show your accosters how small a chamber you occupy,..."