Begin to charm, and as thou strok’st my ears With thy [endearment]1, melt me into tears. Then let thy active hand scud o’er thy lyre: And make my spirits frantic with the fire. That done, sink down into a silv’ry strain; And make me smooth as Balm, and Oil again.
No Time in Eternity
Song Cycle by Michael Nyman (b. 1944)
1. To Music (i)  [sung text checked 1 time]
Authorship:
- by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674), appears in The Hesperides
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View original text (without footnotes)1 Nyman: "enchantment"
Research team for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor] , Mike Pearson
2. Time in Eternity  [sung text checked 1 time]
By hours we all live here; in Heaven is known No spring of time or time's succession.
Authorship:
- by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674), appears in The Hesperides
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Researcher for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]3. Fortune  [sung text checked 1 time]
Fortune's a blind profuse of her own, Too much she gives to some, enough to none.
Authorship:
- by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674), appears in The Hesperides
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Researcher for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]4. The Definition of Beauty  [sung text checked 1 time]
Beauty no other thing is than a beam Flashed out between the middle and extreme.
Authorship:
- by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674), appears in The Hesperides
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Researcher for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]5. Things mortal still mutable  [sung text checked 1 time]
Things are uncertain and the more we get, The more on icy pavements we are set.
Authorship:
- by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674), appears in The Hesperides
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Researcher for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]6. The Watch  [sung text checked 1 time]
Man is a watch, wound up at first, but never wound up again; once down, he's down for ever. The watch once down all motions then do cease; And man's pulse stopp'd all passions sleep in peace.
Authorship:
- by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674), appears in The Hesperides
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Researcher for this page: Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]7. To Music (ii)  [sung text checked 1 time]
Music, thou Queen of Heaven, Care-charming-spell, That strik'st a stillness into hell: Thou that tam'st Tygers, and fierce storms (that rise) With thy soul-melting Lullabies: Fall down, down, down, from those thy chiming spheres, To charm our souls, as thou enchant'st our ears.
Authorship:
- by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674), "To Music", subtitle: "A song", appears in The Hesperides
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Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Malcolm Wren [Guest Editor]