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by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)

Two loves I have, of comfort and despair
Language: English 
Two loves I have, of comfort and despair,
That like two spirits do suggest me still;
My better angel is a man right fair,
My worser spirit a woman colour'd ill.
To win me soon to hell, my female evil
Tempteth my better angel from my side,
And would corrupt my saint to be a devil,
Wooing his purity with her fair pride.
And whether that my angel be turn'd fiend,
Suspect I may, yet not directly tell:
For being both to me, both to each friend,
I guess one angel in another's hell;
The truth I shall not know, but live in doubt,
Till my bad angel fire my good one out.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in The Passionate Pilgrim, no. 2, 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):

    [ None yet in the database ]

Set in a modified version by Richard Simpson.

    • Go to the text. [ view differences ] FRE

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-12-05
Line count: 14
Word count: 113

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