by Peter Anthony Motteux (1663 - 1718)
Shou'd I not lead a happy life
Language: English
He: Shou’d I not lead a happy life? Were but my bottle like my wife. My Bottle empties when I swill But my wife swells up when we bill. Wou’d when I drink my bottle fill And when I kiss my wife not swell. I wou’d so swill, I wou’d so fill, I wou’d so bill That daily, gaily I wou’d spend my life Drinking, filling, hugging, billing, My merry bottle and my wife. She: Still at your pott you drunken sott? You, ‘till I come, will never go home, And when you’re there, you curse and swear You pan, you damn and swear, Then prove a-bed a lump of lead Will you never leave your beastly pott, You odious filthy drunken sott? He: Do you think, you scold, I’ll be controlled? No more be said or at your head, As I’m a sott, souse flies the pott, But first I think I’ll save the drink. She: Hold leave a sup, don’t drink it all up. He: Here taste and know, why I’ll not go. She: How sweet, oh how it cheers and warms my Heart Oh dear methinks I suck my mother Here’s to you my love, Have t’other quart and then another. Both: Come now we’re friends and all is right. Drink all day but love at night.
Authorship:
- by Peter Anthony Motteux (1663 - 1718), written 1696 [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by John Eccles (1668 - 1735), "Shou'd I not lead a happy life", subtitle: "A Drunken Dialogue in Love’s a Jest", first performed 1696 [ vocal duet for soprano and bass with continuo ], Verified with A Collection of Songs by John Eccles, John Walsh, London, c.1704. [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2024-01-03
Line count: 36
Word count: 220