Lyrics Barber: 3 Songs, Op. 2: III. Bessie Bobtail - Jennifer Larmore, Samuel Barber

Barber: 3 Songs, Op. 2: III. Bessie Bobtail

As down the road she wambled slow
She had not got a place to go:
She had not got a place to fall
And rest herself — no place at all!
She stumped along, and wagged her pate;
And said a thing was desperate
Her face was screwed and wrinkled tight
Just like a nut — and, left and right
On either side, she wagged her head
And said a thing;
and what she said
Was desperate as any word
That ever yet a person heard
I walkd behind her for a while
And watchd the people nudge and smile:
But ever, as she went, she said
As left and right she swung her head
«O God He knows: And, God He knows!
And, surely God Almighty knows!»