Songs

Grenadier

by Michael Berkeley

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Text

Grenadier (1922)
English source: Alfred Edward Housman

The queen she sent to look for me,
The sergeant he did say,
'Young man, a soldier will you be
For thirteen pence a day?'
For thirteen pence a day did I
Take off the things I wore,
And I have marched to where I lie,
And I shall march no more.
My mouth is dry, my shirt is wet,
My blood runs all away,
So now I shall not die in debt
For thirteen pence a day.
Tomorrow after new young men
The sergeant he must see,
For things will all be over then
Between the queen and me.
And I shall have to bate my price,
For in the grave, they say,
Is neither knowledge nor device
Nor thirteen pence a day.

Composer

Michael Berkeley

Michael Fitzhardinge Berkeley, Baron Berkeley of Knighton, CBE (born 29 May 1948) is an English composer and broadcaster on music. Continue reading on Wikipedia.

Poet

Alfred Edward Housman

Alfred Edward Housman (/26 March 1859 – 30 April 1936), usually known as A. E. Housman, was an English classical scholar and poet, best known to the general public for his cycle of poems A Shropshire Lad. Lyrical and almost epigrammatic in form, the…

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