by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
Some can flatter, some can faine
Language: English
Some can flatter, some can faine, Simple trueth shall pleade for mee, Let not beautie trueth disdaine, Trueth is euen as faire as shee. But since Paires must equall proue, Let my strength her youth oppose, Loue her beautie, faith her loue, On eu'n termes so may we close. Corke or Leade, in equall waight, Both one iust proportion yeeld, So may breadth be pays'd with height, Steepest mount with plainest field. Vertues haue not all one kind, Yet all vertues merits bee : Diuers vertues are combind, Diff'ring so Deserts agree. Let then loue and beautie meete, Making one diuine concent, Constant as the sounds, and sweete, That enchant the firmament.
View original text (without footnotes)
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Bertram Kottmann
Modernized form shown below confirmed with Lyrics from the Song-Books of the Elizabethan Age, ed. by A. H. Bullen, London, John C. Nimmo, 1887, page 109.
Some can flatter, some can feign, Simple truth shall plead for me; Let not beauty truth disdain, Truth is even as fair as she. But since pairs must equal prove, Let my strength her youth oppose, Love her beauty, faith her love; On even terms so may we close. Cork or lead in equal weight Both one just proportion yield, So may breadth be peis’d1 with height, Steepest mount with plainest field. Virtues have not all one kind, Yet all virtues merit be, Divers virtues are combined; Differing so, deserts agree. Let then love and beauty meet, Making one divine concent Constant as the sounds and sweet, That enchant the firmament.1 i.e., balanced
Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [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 William Corkine (fl. 1610-2), "Some can flatter, some can faine", published 1610 [voice, lute, bass viol], from the collection Airs to sing and play to the Lute and Bass-viol, no. 2. [text verified 1 time]
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Bertram Kottmann
This text was added to the website: 2014-02-25
Line count: 20
Word count: 112