by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674)
Upon the Loss of his Mistresses
Language: English
I have lost, and lately, these Many dainty mistresses: Stately Julia, prime of all: Sappho next, a principal: Smooth Anthea for a skin White, and heaven-like crystalline: Sweet Electra, and the choice Myrrha for the lute and voice: Next Corinna, for her wit, And the graceful use of it: With Perilla: all are gone; Only Herrick's left alone For to number sorrow by Their departures hence, and die.
Confirmed with Robert Herrick, The Hesperides and Noble Numbers Edited by Alfred Pollard. London 1898
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674), "Upon the Loss of his Mistresses", appears in The Hesperides, no. 39 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Geoffrey Bush (1920 - 1998), "Upon the Loss of his Mistresses", 1949 [ baritone and piano ], from Four Songs from Herrick's 'Hesperides', no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2019-09-09
Line count: 14
Word count: 68