Thomas Hardy — The Fiddler

The fiddler knows what's brewing        &nbsp To the lilt of his lyric wiles: The fiddler knows what rueing        &nbsp Will come of this night's smiles! He sees couples join them for dancing,        &nbsp And afterwards joining for life, He sees them pay high for their prancing        &nbsp By a welter of wedded strife. He twangs: "Music hails from the devil,        &nbsp Though vaunted to come from heaven, For it makes people do at a revel        &nbsp What multiplies sins by seven. "There's many a heart now mangled,        &nbsp And waiting its time to go, Whose tendrils were first entangled        &nbsp By my sweet viol and bow!"