1.
Where the bee sucks, there suck I,
In a cowslip’s bell I lie;
There I couch when owls do cry;
On the bat’s back I do fly
After summer merrily.
‖: Merrily, merrily shall I live now,
Under the blossom that hangs on the bough. :‖
2.
I bathe in rose dew, and ne’er fail
To breakfast in the milking pail.
With the King I sit and dine;
Taste his meat, and drink his wine;
Court and kiss his concubine.
‖: Merrily, merrily, void of all care
Shall I live now, and as free as the air. :‖
3.
Spite of Dick I dance and play
With the lady of the May.
Numps his malmsey nose I’ll ply;
Tickle maudlin’s spirit eye;
‘Buzz’ in Roger’s ear I cry.
‖: Merrily, merrily, now here, now there;
This side and that side and everywhere. :‖
4.
But in autumn I as Cupid
And god Bacchus, blind and stupid,
On the glass’s brim I hop,
Sipping still, till from the top
To the bottom down I drop.
‖: Merrily, merrily, there yet I lie;
I drink, and am drunk, and dead drunk I die. :‖