The Plaintively Pathetic

A Music-hall audience will always be exceedingly susceptible to pathos -- so long as they clearly understand that the song is not intended to be of a comic nature. However, there is very little danger of any misapprehension in the case of our present example, which is as natural and affecting a little song as any that have been moving the Music Halls of late. The ultra-fastidious may possibly be repelled by what they would term the vulgarity of the title, -- "The Night-light Ever Burning by the Bed" -- but, although it is true that this humble luminary is now more generally called a "Fairy Lamp," persons of true taste and refinement will prefer the homely simplicity of its earlier name. The song only contains three verses, which is the regulation allowance for Music-hall pathos, the authors probably feeling that the audience could not stand any more.

It should be explained that the "tum-tum" at the end of certain lines is not intended to be sung -- it is merely an indication to the orchestra to pinch their violins in a _pizzicato_ manner. The singer should either come on as a serious black man -- for burnt cork is a marvellous provocative of pathos -- or as his ordinary self. In either case he should wear evening dress, with a large brilliant on each hand.