Alfred Edward Housman: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

The New Mistress

Alfred Edward Housman

“The New Mistress” as printed in A Shropshire Lad (1896).

Alfred Edward Housman: Collected Lyrics Text 43 1896 · historical text
Public domainSong lyricsVictorian song
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from A Shropshire Lad, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

"Oh, sick I am to see you, will you never let me be?

You may be good for something but you are not good for me.

Oh, go where you are wanted, for you are not wanted here.

And that was all the farewell when I parted from my dear.

Verse 2

'I will go where I am wanted, to a lady born and bred,

Who will dress me free for nothing in a uniform of red;

She will not be sick to see me if I only keep it clean:

I will go where I am wanted for a soldier of the Queen.

Verse 3

'I will go where I am wanted, for the sergeant does not mind;

He may be sick to see me but he treats me very kind:

He gives me beer and breakfast and a ribbon for my cap,

And I never knew a sweetheart spend her money on a chap.

Verse 4

'I will go where I am wanted, where there 's room for one or two,

And the men are none too many for the work there is to do;

Where the standing line wears thinner and the dropping dead lie thick;

And the enemies of England they shall see me and be sick.'

Credits

Written by Alfred Edward Housman

Words by Alfred Edward Housman. Historical text published in A Shropshire Lad (1896); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

A Shropshire Lad (1896), “The New Mistress”

A. E. Housman (1859-1936) died more than 89 years ago; his works entered the public domain in life-plus-70 jurisdictions in 2007, and the 1896 first edition is in the public domain in the United States. Entries credited to other hands are held unless their author died more than 70 years ago.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

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Retrieved 2026-10-27. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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