Were I laid on Greenland’s Coast

Quote byJohn Gay · 1685–1732

Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: The Beggar's Opera (1728), Act I, sc. xxxiii, air 16.

English (original)

Were I laid on Greenland’s Coast, And in my Arms embrac’d my Lass; Warm amidst eternal Frost, Too soon the Half Year’s Night would pass.

— John Gay

My lodging is on the cold ground, And hard, very hard, is my fare, But that which grieves me more Is the coldness of my dear.

All in the Downs the fleet was moor'd.

'Twas when the seas were roaring With hollow blasts of wind, A damsel lay deploring, All on a rock reclined.

So comes a reckoning when the banquet's o'er,— The dreadful reckoning, and men smile no more.

Life is a jest; and all things show it. I thought so once; and now I know it.

Adieu, she cried, and waved her lily hand.