by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
A grasshopper and a fly
Language: English
Available translation(s): HEB
A grasshopper and a fly,
In summer hot and dry,
In eager argument were met
About, about priority.
Says the fly to the grasshopper:
"From mighty race I spring,
Bright Phoebus was my dad 'tis known,
And I eat and drink with a king."
Says the grasshopper to the fly:
"Such rogues are still preferr'd;
Your father might be of high degree,
But your mother was but a turd."
So, rebel Jemmy Scott,
That did to the empire soar,
His father might be the Lord knows what,
But his mother we knew a whore,
A whore, a whore, a whore.
Note (from Ehud Shapiro): James "Jemmy" Scott, the first Duke of Monmouth was the eldest -- and probably favourite -- of Charles II's twelve bastard children. When Charles II brother was elected to succeed him as James II, he led a rebellion against his uncle. He lost and got beheaded (after 6 failed trials with the ax so they say). Brave Purcell published this song in support of Jemmy's uncle one year
after Jemmy's deafeat and death.
Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- HEB Hebrew (עברית) (Ehud Shapiro) , title 1: "צרצר ויתוש", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Ehud Shapiro
This text was added to the website: 2014-01-25
Line count: 17
Word count: 100
צרצר ויתוש
Language: Hebrew (עברית)  after the English
צרצר ויתוש,
בקיץ חם ויבש,
נפגשו בוויכוח לוהט
על קדימות.
אומר היתוש לצרצר:
"מגזע אדיר נוצרתי,
אפולו הבוהק היה אבי כידוע,
ואני סועד ושותה עם מלך."
אומר הצרצר ליתוש:
"עדיין יש נוכלים שמסתדרים;
ייתכן שאביך רב זכויות,
אבל אמך סתם חתיכת חרא."
לכן, ג'מיי סקוט,
שהמריא למרומי האימפריה,
אביו אולי אלוהים יודע מי,
אבל אמו, אנו יודעים, זונה,
זונה, זונה, זונה.
Authorship:
- Translation from English to Hebrew (עברית) copyright © 2014 by Ehud Shapiro, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
This text was added to the website: 2014-01-25
Line count: 17
Word count: 62