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by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822)

False friend, wilt thou smile or weep
Language: English 
False friend, wilt thou smile or weep
When my life is laid asleep?
Little cares for a smile or a tear,
The clay-cold corpse upon the bier!
  Farewell! Heigh-ho!
  What is this whispers low?
There is a snake in thy smile, my dear;
And bitter poison within thy tear.

Sweet sleep! were death like to thee,
Or if thou couldst mortal be,
I would close these eyes of pain;
When to wake? Never again.
  O World! farewell!
  Listen to the passing bell!
It say, thou and I must part,
With a light and a heavy heart.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822), no title, appears in The Cenci, Act V, Scene 3, lines 130-145 [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 John Herbert Foulds (1880 - 1939), "Beatrice's Song", op. 77 (1922), first performed 1922 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2022-01-10
Line count: 16
Word count: 96

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