by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
Sweet Kate
Language: English
Sweet Kate of late ran away and left me plaining: "Te-he-he" quoth she, "gladly would I see any man to die with loving!" "Abide!" I cried, "or I die with thy disdaining". "Never any yet died of such a fit; neither have I fear of proving!" Unkind! I find thy delight is in tormenting: "Abide!" I cried, "or I die with thy consenting". "Te-he-he" quoth she, "make no fool of me! Men I know have oath at pleasure; but their hopes attain'd, they bewray they feign'd, and their oaths are kept at leisure". Her words, like swords, cut my sorry heart in sunder: Het flouts with doubts kept my heart's affections under. "Te-he-he" quoth she, "what a fool is he stands in awe of once denying!" Cause I had enough to become more rough: so I did. O happy trying!
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 Robert Jones (flourished 1597-1615), "Sweet Kate", published c1570 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Arthur Somervell, Sir (1863 - 1937), "Sweet Kate" [ voice and piano ], confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Lidy van Noordenburg
This text was added to the website: 2008-03-17
Line count: 14
Word count: 140