by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852)
Old proverb
Language: English
Young Love lived once in an humble shed, Where roses breathing And woodbines wreathing Around the lattice their tendrils spread, As wild and sweet as the life he led. His garden flourished, For young Hope nourished The infant buds with beams and showers; But lips, through blooming, must be fed, And not even Love can live on flowers. Alas! that Poverty's evil eye Should e'er come hither such sweets to wither! The flowers laid down their head to die, And Hope fell sick as the witch drew nigh. She came one morning, Ere Love had warning, And raised the latch, where the young god lay; "Oh ho!" said Love, "is it you? good bye;" So he opened the window and flew away.
Authorship:
- by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Adolph Martin Foerster (1854 - 1927), "Old proverb", op. 28 no. 8, from Among flowers, no. 8. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Barbara Miller
This text was added to the website: 2004-02-10
Line count: 19
Word count: 122