A MERRY MADRIGAL.
Reading edition
Brightly dawns our wedding day; Joyous hour, we give thee greeting! Whither, whither art thou fleeting? Fickle moment, prithee stay! What though mortal joys be hollow? Pleasures come, if sorrows follow: Though the tocsin sound, ere long, Ding dong! Ding dong! Yet until the shadows fall Over one and over all, Sing a merry madrigal— Fal la! Let us dry the ready tear; Though the hours are surely creeping, Little need for woeful weeping, Till the sad sundown is near. All must sip the cup of sorrow— I to-day and thou to-morrow: This the close of every song— Ding dong! Ding dong! What, though solemn shadows fall, Sooner, later, over all? Sing a merry madrigal— Fal la!