by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
Why fearest thou thy outward foe
Language: English
Why fearest thou thy outward foe, When thou thyself thy harm dost feed ? Of grief, or hurt, of pain, or woe, Within each thing is sown a seed. So fine was never yet the cloth, No smith so hard his iron did beat, But the one consumed was with moth, The other with canker all to fret. The knotty oak and wainscoat old Within doth eat the silly worm : Even so a mind in envy roll'd Always within itself doth burn. Thus every thing that Nature wrought Within itself his hurt doth bear : No outward harm need to be sought Whose enemies be within so near.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Rare Poems of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century. A Supplement to the Anthologies. Collected and Edited with Notes by W. J. Linton, Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1883, in Part II - Authors Unknown, in the section Tottel's Miscellany, 1557, page 159.
Text Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author, "Each Thing Hurt of Itself" [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 Imogen Clare Holst (1907 - 1984), "Why fearest thou thy outward foe?", 1944 [ soprano and piano ], from Four Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2022-06-15
Line count: 16
Word count: 106