by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
Translation by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852)
They tell me thou'rt the favoured guest
Language: English  after the Latin
They tell me thou'rt the favored guest Of every fair and brilliant throng; No wit like thine to wake the jest, No voice like thine to breathe the song; And none could guess, so gay thou art, That thou and I are far apart. Alas! alas! how different flows With thee and me the time away! Not that I wish thee sad-- heaven knows -- Still if thou canst, be light and gay; I only know, that without thee The sun himself is dark to me. Do I thus haste to hall and bower, Among the proud and gay to shine? Or deck my hair with gem and flower, To flatter other eyes than thine? Ah, no, with me love's smiles are past Thou hadst the first, thou hadst the last.
Note from "The Poetical Works of Thomas Moore" : "Part of a translation of some Latin verses, supposed to have been addressed by Hippolyta Taurella to her husband,
during his absence at the gay court of Leo the Tenth. The
verses may be found in the Appendix to Roscoe's Work. "
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Authorship:
- by Thomas Moore (1779 - 1852), "They tell me thou'rt the favoured guest" [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
Based on:
- a text in Latin by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist [text unavailable]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Michael William Balfe (1808 - 1870), "They tell me thou'rt the favoured guest", <<1870 [voice and piano], London: Joseph Williams [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-02-16
Line count: 18
Word count: 130