Love The Marvelous Magician 1899 'The Singing Girl'

James Pitt-Payne, London UK - 21 Jan 2004

In ancient days, the darkly supersticious;
which now are comic,
though they then were tragic,
'mid other institutions meretricious,
were crusted arts of witchcraft and of magic.
And so they say that these beliefs
have vanished;
but though the learned tell us they are nil,
the witchcraft born of love
is never banished,
the magic of this love is with us still.
Oh, a marvelous magician is this love,
with his prestidigitation
and his subtle conjuration;
an eagle, if he likes, becomes a dove;
a lion becomes a lizard
if it pleases this young wizard,
By a smile, a note, a lock of hair, a glove.
He can make an ignoramus
of a sage how ever famous,
while the vapid and the silly,
become clever willy nilly,
beneath the spell of this magician love.

This conjuror is full of petty malice,
and we are only puppets that he teases;
He offers you a drink from golden chalice,
and, presto! you are anything he pleases.
They try to tell us, these savants and sages,
that gone are all the days of the black art;
but beasts are still in mediæval ages
and love's the great magician of the heart
Yes, a sorcerer of cunning is this love,
an alchemist of learning,
lead to gold he's always turning;
an astrologer who reads the stars above;
A human heart's his planet,
thro' his glass he loves to scan it;
not Minerva's owl's his bird,
but Venus' dove.
He is ruler of your fancy
by his wondrous necromancy,
if you're docile he won't harm you,
yield to him and he will charm you;
a marvelous magician is this love.

Soft karaoke
Words
piano 1
piano 2
piano 3
piano 4
lyric
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Love The Marvelous Magician 1899
Lyrics by Harry B. Smith
Music by Victor Herbert
copyright 1899 by M. Witmark & Sons
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sequence and karaoke by James Pitt-Payne, London UK
on Wednesday 21 January 2004 at 15.20
in associatioin with Doug Grierson
*
"The Singing Girl." -  A Comic Opera in 3 Acts
Music by Victor Herbert. Book by Stanislaus Stange
Lyrics by Harry B. Smith.
Stanislaus Stange Harry B. Smith Publication:
New York: M. Witmark & Sons, 1899.
*