III
“What would you do, when, home re-turn-ing,
With hopes high burn-ing,
With wealth for you,—
If my bark, that bound-ed o'er foreign foam,
Should be lost near home,—
Ah, what would you do?”
“So them wert spar-d, I'd bless the mor-row,
In want and sor-row,
That left me you;
And I'd welcome thee from the wasting bil-low,
My heart thy pil-low!—
THAT'S what I'd do!”
[Footnote: NOTE TO THE THIRD EDITION.—The foregoing dialogue and Moriarty's captious remarks were meant, when, they appeared in the first edition, as a hit at a certain small critic—a would-be song-writer—who does ill-natured articles for the Reviews, and expressed himself very contemptuously of my songs because of their simplicity; or, as he was pleased to phrase it, “I had a knack of putting common things together.” The song was written to illustrate my belief that the most common-place expression, appropriately applied, may successfully serve the purposes of the lyric; and here experience has proved me right, for this very song of “What will you do?” (containing within it the other common-place, “That's what I'd do”) has been received with special favour by the public, whose long-continued goodwill towards my compositions generally I gratefully acknowledge.]
“Well done, padre!” said the doctor; “with good emphasis and discretion.”
“And now, my dear Miss Dawson,” said Father Phil, “since I've read the lines at your high bidding, will you sing them for me at my humble asking?”
“Very antithetically put, indeed,” said Fanny; “but you must excuse me.”
“You said there was a tune to it?”
“Yes; but I promised Captain Moriarty to sing him this,” said Fanny, going over to the pianoforte, and laying her hand on an open music-book.
“Thanks, Miss Dawson,” said Moriarty, following fast.
Now, it was not that Fanny Dawson liked the captain that she was going to sing the song; but she thought he had been rather “mobbed” by the doctor and the padre about the reading of the verses, and it was her good breeding which made her pay this little attention to the worsted party. She poured forth her sweet voice in a simple melody to the following words:—