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!"