by Edmund Spenser (1552 - 1599)
Sonnet LXXXIX
Language: English
Lyke as the Culver on the barèd bough, Sits mourning for the absence of her mate: And in her songs sends many a wishfull vow, For his returne that seemes to linger late, So I alone now left disconsolate, Mourne to my selfe the absence of my love: And wandring here and there all desolate, Seek with my playnts to match that mournful dove: Ne joy of ought that under heaven doth hove, Can comfort me, but her owne joyous sight: Whose sweet aspèct both God and man can move, In her unspotted pleasauns to delight. Dark is my day, whyles her fayre light I mis, And dead my life that wants such lively blis.
Confirmed with Edmund Spenser, Amoretti and Epithalamion, W. Ponsonby, 1595.
Text Authorship:
- by Edmund Spenser (1552 - 1599), "Sonnet LXXXIX", appears in Amoretti and Epithalamion [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 Edmund Duncan Rubbra (1901 - 1986), "Sonnet LXXXIX", op. 43 no. 3 (1935), published 1942 [ tenor and string quartet ], from Amoretti: Five Sonnets (Second Series), no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2026-09-26
Line count: 14
Word count: 115