Ben Bolt
a song written by Thomas Dunn English in 1842. The poem was written at the request of N. P. Willis. Set to the music of an old German air by Nelson Kneass, it became popular both in England and America. It had, however, been partially forgotten when its effective use in Du Maurier's Trilby called it again into favor.
Oh! don't you remember sweet Alice, Ben Bolt,
Sweet Alice, whose hair was so brown,
Who wept with delight when you gave her a smile,
And trembled with fear at your frown?
In the old churchyard, in the valley, Ben Bolt,
In a corner obscure and alone;
They have fitted a slab of the granite so gray,
And sweet Alice lies under the stone.
Sweet Alice, whose hair was so brown,
Who wept with delight when you gave her a smile,
And trembled with fear at your frown?
In the old churchyard, in the valley, Ben Bolt,
In a corner obscure and alone;
They have fitted a slab of the granite so gray,
And sweet Alice lies under the stone.
Volume I · Aiton’s Encyclopedia