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Songs of a Savoyard

by W. S. Gilbert

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Ah Me!

When maiden loves, she sits and sighs,
She wanders to and fro;
Unbidden tear-drops fill her eyes,
And to all questions she replies,
With a sad heigho!
      ’Tis but a little word—“heigho!”
      So soft, ’tis scarcely heard—“heigho!”
An idle breath—
Yet life and death
      May hang upon a maid’s “heigho!”

When maiden loves, she mopes apart,
As owl mopes on a tree;
Although she keenly feels the smart,
She cannot tell what ails her heart,
With its sad “Ah me!”
      ’Tis but a foolish sigh—“Ah me!”
      Born but to droop and die—“Ah me!”
Yet all the sense
Of eloquence
      Lies hidden in a maid’s “Ah me!”

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