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No. 22: RECIT & SONG (Robin)
"Away remorse!...
Henceforth all the crimes"
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 KARAOKE File [14 KB, 2' 15 "] |
To the original song written for this point in the opera.
| Robin. |
| Away, Remorse! Compunction, hence! Go, Moral Force! Go, Penitence! To Virtue's plea a long farewell — Propriety, I ring your knell! Come, guiltiness of deadliest hue! Come, desperate deeds of derring-do! |
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Henceforth all the crimes that I find in the Times, I've promised to perpetrate daily; To-morrow I start with a petrified heart, On a regular course of Old Bailey. There's confidence tricking, bad coin, pocket-picking, And several other disgraces — There's postage-stamp prigging, and then thimble-rigging, The three-card delusion at races! Oh! A baronet's rank is exceedingly nice, But the title's uncommonly dear at the price! Ye well-to-do squires, who live in the shires, Where petty distinctions are vital, Who found Athenaeums and local museums, With a view to a baronet's title — Ye butchers and bakers and candlestick makers Who sneer at all things that are tradey — Whose middle-class lives are embarrassed by wives Who long to parade as "My Lady", Oh! allow me to offer a word of advice, The title's uncommonly dear at the price! |
| Ye supple M.P.'s who go down on your knees, Your precious identity sinking, And vote black or white as your leaders indite (Which saves you the trouble of thinking), For your country's good fame, her repute, or her shame, You don't care the snuff of a candle — But you're paid for your game when you're told that your name Will be graced by a baronet's handle — Oh! Allow me to give you a word of advice — The title's uncommonly dear at the price! |
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Exit Robin.
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Page Created 25 August, 2011