On a day, alack the day! Love, whose month was ever May, Spied a blossom passing fair Playing in the wanton air: Through the velvet leaves the wind, All unseen, 'gan passage find; That the lover, sick to death, Wish'd himself the heaven's breath. "Air", quoth he, "thy cheeks may blow; [Air, would]1 I might triumph so! But, alas my hand [hath]2 sworn Ne'er to pluck thee from thy thorn: Vow, alack, for youth unmeet; Youth so apt to pluck a sweet.3 Thou for whom Jove would swear Juno but an Ethiope were, And deny himself for Jove, Turning mortal for thy love."
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Shakespeare, The Tragedies and the Poems, J M Dent & Sons Limited, page 535.
1 Jackson: "Would that"
2 Jackson: "is"
3 Jackson adds: "Do not call it sin in me/ If I am forsworn for thee;"
Text Authorship:
- possibly by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets to sundry notes of music, no. 2, appears in The Passionate Pilgrim, no. 16, first published 1599 [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 Grace Chadbourne , "Love's Labor Lost", subtitle: "Duet" [ soprano, tenor and piano ], from Shakespeare Song Cycle, no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Jackson (1730 - 1803), "Elegy 1", op. 3 no. 2, published 1762 [ vocal trio for 2 tenors, bass and continuo ], from Elegies, no. 2, Confirmed with Elegies, composed by William Jackson of Exeter, London 1762. [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Daniel Ruyneman (1886 - 1963), "On a day, alack the day", 1949 [sung text not yet checked]
Set in a modified version by Thomas Chilcot, Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo)
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2008-06-09
Line count: 18
Word count: 106
Un jour, hélas ! un jour, l’amour, dont le mois est toujours mai, découvrit une fleur ravissante, se jouant dans l’air voluptueux. Entre ses pétales veloutées, le vent invisible se frayait un passage ; si bien que l’amoureux, languissant à mourir, se prit à envier l’haleine du ciel : « Zéphyr, dit-il, tu peux souffler à pleines joues ; zéphyr, que ne puis-je triompher comme toi !… Mais, hélas ! rose, ma main a juré de ne jamais te cueillir à ton épine ! Serment, hélas ! bien peu fait pour la jeunesse, si prompte à cueillir les douces choses. « Si je me parjure pour toi, ne m’en fais pas un crime. Près de toi Jupiter jurerait que Junon n’est qu’une Éthiopienne, et, pour toi se faisant mortel, il nierait être Jupiter. »
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
Based on:
- a text in English possibly by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- [ None yet in the database ]
Researcher for this page: Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2016-01-25
Line count: 19
Word count: 127