Dedicated to Zulema.
"The Gypsy's Tent" (12 Nov. 1882)
as sung in the melodrama LORIENA
Words by Miss Cook
Music by Septimus Winner, 1827-1902

[Source: 19311@LoC;
Philadelphia: Sep. Winner & Son,
Plate No. 11.12.82.]

1.
Our fire on the turf, and our tent 'neath the tree--
Carousing by moonlight how merry are we,
Let the lord boast his Castle, the baron his ball,
But this home of the gypsy is gayest of all.
We may shout o'er our cups, and laugh loud as we will,
'Till echo rings back from wood, welkin, and hill;
No joys seem to us like the hours that are lent
||: To the wanderer's life and the gay gypsy's tent. :||

2.
If pant ye for beauty? oh where would ye seek
Such bloom as is found on the dark tawny cheek?
Our limbs, that go bounding in freedom and health,
Are worth all your pale faces and coffers of wealth.
There are none to control us; we rest or we roam;
Our will is our law, and the world is our home:
E'en  Jove would repine at his lot if he spent
||: A night of wild glee in the gay gypsy's tent. :||