by John Donne (1572 - 1631)
A valediction: of weeping
Language: English
Available translation(s): ITA
Let me pour forth My tears before thy face, whilst I stay here, For thy face coins them, and thy stamp they bear, And by this mintage they are something worth. For thus they be Pregnant of thee ; Fruits of much grief they are, emblems of more ; When a tear falls, that thou fall'st which it bore ; So thou and I are nothing then, when on a divers shore. On a round ball A workman, that hath copies by, can lay An Europe, Afric, and an Asia, And quickly make that, which was nothing, all. So doth each tear, Which thee doth wear, A globe, yea world, by that impression grow, Till thy tears mix'd with mine do overflow This world, by waters sent from thee, my heaven dissolvèd so. O ! more than moon, Draw not up seas to drown me in thy sphere ; Weep me not dead, in thine arms, but forbear To teach the sea, what it may do too soon ; Let not the wind Example find To do me more harm than it purposeth : Since thou and I sigh one another's breath, Whoe'er sighs most is cruellest, and hastes the other's death.
Authorship:
- by John Donne (1572 - 1631), "A valediction: of weeping" [author's text checked 1 time 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 Ross Lee Finney (1906 - 1997), "A valediction: of weeping", published c1957, from Three Love Songs to Words by John Donne, no. 1. [text not verified]
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , title 1: "Un commiato: del piangere", copyright © 2008, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-08-09
Line count: 27
Word count: 202