Pour forth, mine eyes, the fountains of your tears;
Break, heart, and die, for now no hope appears;
Hope, upon which before my thoughts were fed,
Hath left me quite forlorn and from me fled.
Yet, see, she smiles! O see, some hope appears!
Hold, heart, and live; mine eyes, cease off your tears.

About the headline (FAQ)

Lyrics from the Song-Books of the Elizabethan Age, ed. by A. H. Bullen, London, John C. Nimmo, 1887, page 97.

Text Authorship:

• by Anonymous / Unidentified Author, no title [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 Francis Pilkington (d. 1638), "Pour forth, mine eyes, the fountains of your tears", published 1613, from First Set of Madrigals [sung text checked 1 time]
• by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Pour Forth, Mine Eyes", op. 198 (1948) [ voice and piano ], from Three Songs of Sadness, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2014-02-25
Line count: 6
Word count: 54