There Was a Jolly Miller - Isaac Bickerstaffe

There was a jolly miller once lived on the river Dee;

He danced and sang from morn till night, no lark so blithe as he;

And this the burden of his song forever used to be:—

“I care for nobody, no not I, if nobody cares for me.

“I live by my mill, God bless her! she’s kindred, child, and wife;

I would not change my station for any other in life;

No lawyer, surgeon, or doctor e’er had a groat from me:

I care for nobody, no not I, if nobody cares for me.”

When spring begins his merry career, oh, how his heart grows gay:

No summer’s drought alarms his fear, nor winter’s cold decay;

No foresight mars the miller’s joy, who’s wont to sing and say,

“Let others toil from year to year, I live from day to day.”

Thus, like the miller, bold and free, let us rejoice and sing:

The days of youth are made for glee, and time is on the wing;

This song shall pass from me to thee, along the jovial ring:

Let heart and voice and all agree to say, “Long live the king.”

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Isaac Bickerstaffe (1733 - c. 1812) Ireland

Source: Library of World’s Best Literature, Charles Dudley Warner, Warner Library Co., 1917