by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
Queen Mary's lamentation
Language: English
I sigh and lament me in vain, These walls can but echo my moan; Alas! it encreases my pain, When I think of the days that are gone. Through the grate of my prison, I see The birds as they wanton in air; My heart how it pants to be free, My looks they are wild with despair. Above, tho' opprest by my fate, I burn with contempt for my foes; Tho' fortune has alter'd my state, She ne'er can subdue me to those. False woman! in ages to come, Thy malice detested shall be; And, when we are cold in the tomb, Some heart still will sorrow for me. Ye roofs! where cold damps and dismay, With silence and solitude dwell, How comfortless passes the day, How sad tolls the evening bell! The owls from the battlements cry, Hollow winds seem to murmur around, "O Mary, prepare thee to die:" -- My blood it runs chill at the sound.
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 (Franz) Joseph Haydn (1732 - 1809), "Queen Mary's lamentation", Hob. XXXIa:161, JHW. XXXII/3 no. 169. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani
This text was added to the website: 2009-08-12
Line count: 24
Word count: 159