Boles and Chorus
Speak out in the name of the Lord.
Ellen
We planned that their lives should
Have a new start,
That I, as a friend could
Make the plan work
By bringing comfort where
Their lives were stark.
Rector
You planned to be worldly-wise
But your souls were dark.
Ellen
We planned this time to
Care for the boy;
To save him from danger
And hardship sore, and
Mending his clothes and giving him
Regular meals.
Mrs. Sedley
O little care you for the prentice
Or his welfare!
Boles
Call it danger, call it hardship
Or plain murder!
Ned
But thanks to flinty hearts
Even quacks can make a profit!
Nieces
Perhaps his clothes you mended
But you work his bones bare!
Auntie
You meant just to be kind
And avert fear!
Balstrode
You interfering gossips, this
Is not your business!
Hobson
Pity the boy!
Swallow
You planned to heal sick souls
With bodily care.
Ellen
O pity those who try to bring
A shadowed life into the sun.
Ellen, Auntie and Balstrode
O Lord, hard hearts!
Chorus
Who lets us down must take the rap
The Borough keeps its standards up.
Omnes (without Ellen, Auntie and Balstrode)
Tried to be kind!
Murder!
Tried to be kind and to help!
Murder!
Ellen
We planned that their lives should
Have a new start,
That I, as a friend could
Make the plan work
By bringing comfort where
Their lives were stark.
Rector
You planned to be worldly-wise
But your souls were dark.
Ellen
We planned this time to
Care for the boy;
To save him from danger
And hardship sore, and
Mending his clothes and giving him
Regular meals.
Mrs. Sedley
O little care you for the prentice
Or his welfare!
Boles
Call it danger, call it harship
Or plain murder!
Ned
But thanks to flinty hearts
Even quacks can make a profit!
Nieces
Perhaps his clothes you mended
But you work his bones bare!
Auntie
You meant just to be kind
And avert fear!
Balstrode
You interfering gossips, this
Is not your business!
Hobson
Pity the boy!
Swallow
You planned to heal sick souls
With bodily care.
Ellen
O pity those who try to bring
A shadowed life into the sun.
Ellen, Auntie and Balstrode
O Lord, hard hearts!
Chorus
Who lets us down must take the rap
The Borough keeps its standards up.
Omnes (without Ellen, Auntie and Balstrode)
Tried to be kind!
Murder!
Tried to be kind and to help!
Murder!
Speak out in the name of the Lord.
Ellen
We planned that their lives should
Have a new start,
That I, as a friend could
Make the plan work
By bringing comfort where
Their lives were stark.
Rector
You planned to be worldly-wise
But your souls were dark.
Ellen
We planned this time to
Care for the boy;
To save him from danger
And hardship sore, and
Mending his clothes and giving him
Regular meals.
Mrs. Sedley
O little care you for the prentice
Or his welfare!
Boles
Call it danger, call it hardship
Or plain murder!
Ned
But thanks to flinty hearts
Even quacks can make a profit!
Nieces
Perhaps his clothes you mended
But you work his bones bare!
Auntie
You meant just to be kind
And avert fear!
Balstrode
You interfering gossips, this
Is not your business!
Hobson
Pity the boy!
Swallow
You planned to heal sick souls
With bodily care.
Ellen
O pity those who try to bring
A shadowed life into the sun.
Ellen, Auntie and Balstrode
O Lord, hard hearts!
Chorus
Who lets us down must take the rap
The Borough keeps its standards up.
Omnes (without Ellen, Auntie and Balstrode)
Tried to be kind!
Murder!
Tried to be kind and to help!
Murder!
Ellen
We planned that their lives should
Have a new start,
That I, as a friend could
Make the plan work
By bringing comfort where
Their lives were stark.
Rector
You planned to be worldly-wise
But your souls were dark.
Ellen
We planned this time to
Care for the boy;
To save him from danger
And hardship sore, and
Mending his clothes and giving him
Regular meals.
Mrs. Sedley
O little care you for the prentice
Or his welfare!
Boles
Call it danger, call it harship
Or plain murder!
Ned
But thanks to flinty hearts
Even quacks can make a profit!
Nieces
Perhaps his clothes you mended
But you work his bones bare!
Auntie
You meant just to be kind
And avert fear!
Balstrode
You interfering gossips, this
Is not your business!
Hobson
Pity the boy!
Swallow
You planned to heal sick souls
With bodily care.
Ellen
O pity those who try to bring
A shadowed life into the sun.
Ellen, Auntie and Balstrode
O Lord, hard hearts!
Chorus
Who lets us down must take the rap
The Borough keeps its standards up.
Omnes (without Ellen, Auntie and Balstrode)
Tried to be kind!
Murder!
Tried to be kind and to help!
Murder!