In vain 'gainst Love, in vain I strove, 
Reason nor Honour could its force remove;
Tho' Honour fresh objections brought,
and each had wondrous Sense I thought;

yet Love more strong, tho' not so wise,
belyes my Tongue in my fond Eyes;
One answers faintly no, but yes,
oh yes, the last much louder cryes.

Note: text is by both Bancroft and Mountfort, or by either Bancroft or Mountfort.

Text Authorship:

• by John Bancroft (d. 1696) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
• by William Mountfort (1664? - 1692) [author's text not yet checked 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 Henry Purcell (1658/9 - 1695), "In vain 'gainst Love, in vain I strove", Z. 580 no. 1, from the incidental music to Henry the Second, King of England, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this page: Virginia Knight

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-09
Line count: 8
Word count: 55