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by Philip Sidney, Sir (1554 - 1586)

O Lord, how vain are all our frail delights
Language: English 
Our translations:  GER
O Lord, how vain are all our frail delights;
how mix'd with sour the sweet of our desire;
how subject oft to Fortune's subtle slights;
how soon consum'd like snow against the fire.
Sith in this life our pleasures all be vain,
o lord, grant me that I may them disdain.

How fair in show where need doth force to wish;
how much they loathe when heart hath them at will;
how things possess'd do seem not worth a rish (rush),
where greedy minds for more do covet still.
Sith in this life our pleasures all be vain,
O lord, grant me that I may them disdain.

What prince so great as doth not seem to want;
what man so rich but still doth covet more;
to whom so large was ever Fortune's grant
as for to have a quiet mind in store.
Sith in this life our pleasures all be vain
o Lord, grant me that I may them disdain.

Text Authorship:

  • by Philip Sidney, Sir (1554 - 1586) [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), "O Lord, how vain are all our frail delights" [
     text verified 1 time
    ]

Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • GER German (Deutsch) (Bertram Kottmann) , title 1: "O Herr, wie nichtig sind all unsere vergänglichen Freuden", copyright © 2004, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: Bertram Kottmann

This text was added to the website: 2004-06-26
Line count: 18
Word count: 161

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