Seek not to know

God of dreams:
 Seek not to know what must not be reveal'd,
 Joys only flow when fate is most conceal'd.
 Too busy man would find his sorrows more
 If future fortunes he should know before;

 For by that knowledge of his destiny
 He would not live at all but always die.
 Enquire not then who shall from bonds be freed,
 Who'tis shall wear a crown and who shall bleed.

 All must submit to their appointed doom,
 Fate and misfortune will too quickly come.
 Let me no more with powerful charms be press'd
 I am forbid by fate to tell the rest.

Submitted by Barry Kamil

Authorship

• by John Dryden (1631 - 1700) [ author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by Robert Howard, Sir (1626 - 1698) [ 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 Henry Purcell (1658/9 - 1695), "Seek not to know", Z. 630 no. 15 (1695), from the a play - incidental music The Indian Queen, no. 15, Act 3 [ sung text verified 1 time]

Text added to the website: 2003-11-15 00:00:00.
Last modified: 2016-10-23 18:08:33
Line count: 13
Word count: 101

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