Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, THE ETERNAL YAWNER, by M. A. M. DESAUGIERS


Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

THE ETERNAL YAWNER, by                    
First Line: Ah! Welladay, in all the earth
Last Line: Chorus--ah! Welladay, &c.


All! welladay, in all the earth
What can one do?
Where for amusement seek, or mirth?
Ah! welladay, in all the earth
What can one do?
To cease from yawning here below.

Of mortal man what is the role,
To bustle, eat, and labour ply;
To plot, grow old, and then to die?
Not very lively this, or droll.
Chorus--Ah! welladay, &c.

No wonder in my mind begets
The Sun which poets call sublime;
Not this the first or second time
He rises, runs his race, and sets.
Chorus--Ah! welladay, &c.

To one dull course the seasons cling:
For full five thousand years we view
The summer following after spring,
And winter, autumn's close pursue.
Chorus--Ah! welladay, &c.

My watch (a friend of little use),
Whose hands their tedious circuit ply,
Tells me how quickly hours fly,
Not how I may my hours amuse.
Chorus--Ah! welladay, &c.

I half the world have travelled o'er,
To see if men amusement found;
But everywhere, on every ground,
I saw what I had seen before.
Chorus--Ah! welladay, &c.

In weariness which I abhorred,
Wishing to know how sped the great,
I dined with men of high estate,
And muttered, as I left their board,
Chorus--Ah! welladay, &c.

Wishing to see if, when in love,
Life some unworn amusement has,
Love I attempted, but alas!
Love in all climes the same doth prove.
Chorus--Ah! welladay, &c.

Thus being, at this early age,
Of all things sick both night and day,
In hopes to be more blithe and gay
I did in settled life engage.
Chorus--Ah! welladay, &c.

The street where now my life I led,
By neighbourhood my steps brought on,
To th' Institute and Odeon,
Which every day I visited.
Chorus--Ah! welladay, &c.

By writing this (hope quickly gone),
To cheer my spirits I essayed;
But yawned the while this song was made,
And now I sing it, still I yawn.
Chorus--Ah! welladay, &c.





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