Henry's Songbook

And it fell out upon one day rich Diverus held a feast
And he invited all his friends and gentry of the best
And it fell out upon one day poor Lazarus he was so poor
He came and laid him down and down, even down by Diverus' door

He came and laid him down and down, even down by Diverus' door
Some meat, some drink, brother Diverus, do bestow upon the poor
Thou art none of mine, brother Lazarus, lying begging at my door
No meat nor drink will I give thee nor bestow upon the poor

Then Lazarus laid him down and down, even down by Diverus' wall
Some meat, some drink, brother Diverus, or surely starve I shall
Thou art none of mine, brother Lazarus, lying begging at my wall
No meat nor drink will I give thee, and surely starve thou shall

Then Diverus sent his merry men to whip poor Lazarus away
They had not power to whip one whip but threw their whips away
Then Diverus sent his hungry dogs to bite poor Lazarus away
They had not power to bite one bite but licked his sores away

Then it fell out upon one day poor Lazarus sickened and he died
There came two angels out of Heaven his soul thereto to guide
Rise up, rise up, brother Lazarus, and come along with me
For there is a place prepared in Heaven for to sit on an angel's knee

Then it fell out upon one day rich Diverus sickened and he died
There came two serpents out of Hell his soul thereto to guide
Rise up, rise up, brother Diverus, and come along with me
For there is a place prepared in Hell for to sit on a serpent's knee

[1983:] The words came from Royston Wood when he sang with us. Heather put them to this tune. The story has a great sense of fair play which is not much in evidence in today's world. (Notes Swan Arcade, 'Together Forever')

[1999:] Jesus's story of the rich man and Lazarus is found in Luke 16:19-31.

I heard my grandfather sing a version of this song but learned it only years later from Bronson's version 10:

"'Lazarus' Sharp MSS., 3366/2464. Also in Sharp and Karpeles, I932, II, p. 29(A). Sung by Mr. and Mrs. Gabriel Coates, at Flag Pond, Tenn., September 1, 1916. a D/M (nearly pi squared) tune."

Bronson (Vol. II, p. 17) writes: "CHILD NO. 56: As Child's note informs us, something on the order of this ballad was in print in early Elizabethan times, and seventy-five years later was still matter for common allusion as 'the merry ballad of Diverus and Lazarus.' No early text survived, how ever, and Child had to resort to nineteenth-century reprinting: of eighteenth-century broadsides for his copy." (Notes Rick Lee, 'There's Talk About A Fence')

See also
Variants of Dives and Lazarus