by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
Who likes to love, let him take heed!
Language: English
Who likes to love, let him take heed! And wot you why? Among the gods it is decreed That Love shall die; And every wight that takes his part Shall forfeit each a mourning heart. The cause is this, as I have heard: A sort of dames, Whose beauty he did not regard Nor secret flames, Complained before the gods above That gold corrupts the god of love. The gods did storm to hear this news, And there they swore, That sith he did such dames abuse He should no more Be god of love, but that he should Both die and forfeit all his gold. His bow and shafts they took away Before his eyes, And gave these dames a longer day For to devise Who should them keep, and they be bound That love for gold should not be found. These ladies striving long, at last They did agree To give them to a maiden chaste, Whom I did see, Who with the same did pierce my breast: Her beauty’s rare, and so I rest.
Lyrics from the Song-Books of the Elizabethan Age, ed. by A. H. Bullen, London, John C. Nimmo, 1887, pages 167-168.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [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 William Byrd (1542?3? - 1623), "Who likes to love, let him take heed!", published 1588, from Psalms, Sonnets, and Songs of Sadness and Piety [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2014-02-24
Line count: 30
Word count: 177