My old tunes are ra-ther bro-ken,
And they come from far a-way,
Bring-ing just a lit-tle to-ken
Of a long for-got-ten day;
When the chil-dren came to lis-ten,
T’oth-er side the gar-den fence,
And my heart leapt out of pris-on,
At the gift—of sev-en pence!
Just be-yond the hay-stack’s sha-dow,
Long a-go that leaf-y June,
How they danced about the mea-dow
At the ris-in’ of the moon!
While from out a rail-way car-riage,
Stand-ing rea-dy and a-light,
Stepped their guests as to a mar-riage
Asked to dine—and stay the night!
Sweep and Laugh-er danced to-geth-er,
And a man who had a lamp
Ca-pered light-ly as a fea-ther
With a la-zy look-ing tramp;
When a voice dis-turbed the Lan-cers:
“Chil-dren, come, it’s time for bed”
“Rail-way car-riages, Sprites and Dancers
Flew up—to the stars instead!
Now I am a Con-stel-la-tion,
Free from ev-’ry earth-ly care,
Play-ing night-ly at my sta-tion
For the Big and Lit-tle Bear.
But my tunes are still en-tranc-ing
As that night in leaf-y June,
When I caught the chil-dren dan-cing
With the Sprites be-neath the moon!
Still the children come to hear me
In the lane or din-gy street;
Still the hea-vy pavement near me
Flutters to their hap-py feet;
For my tunes are ne’er for-got-ten,
And they bring the scent of musk;
Grown up folk may call ’em rot-ten,
But I’m looked—for when it’s dusk!