Brightly dawns our wedding day; <br />Joyous hour, we give thee greeting! <br />Whither, whither art thou fleeting? <br />Fickle moment, prithee stay! <br />What though mortal joys be hollow? <br />Pleasures come, if sorrows follow. <br />Though the tocsin sound, ere long, <br />Ding dong! Ding dong! <br />Yet until the shadows fall <br />Over one and over all, <br />Sing a merry madrigal - <br />Fal la! <br /> <br />Let us dry the ready tear; <br />Though the hours are surely creeping, <br />Little need for woeful weeping <br />Till the sad sundown is near. <br />All must sip the cup of sorrow, <br />I to-day and thou to-morrow: <br />This the close of every song - <br />Ding dong! Ding dong! <br />What though solemn shadows fall, <br />Sooner, later, over all? <br />Sing a merry madrigal - <br />Fal la!<br /><br />William Schwenck Gilbert<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/a-merry-madrigal/
