If ever two were one, then surely we. If ever man were loved by wife, then thee. If ever wife [was]1 happy in a man, Compare with me, ye women, if you can. I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold, Or all the riches that the East doth hold. My love is such that rivers cannot quench, Nor [ought]2 but love from thee give recompense. Thy love is such I can no way repay; The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray. Then while we live, in love let's so [persever]3, That when we live no more, we may live ever.
Dramatic Songs in an Intimate Setting
Song Cycle by Rachel Devore Fogarty
. To My Dear and Loving Husband
Language: English
Text Authorship:
- by Anne (Dudley) Bradstreet (1612? - 1672), "To my dear and loving husband" [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):
Set by Rachel Devore Fogarty , 2004 [ high voice and piano ]View original text (without footnotes)
Confirmed with The Complete Works of Anne Bradstreet, 1981.
1 Wilkinson: "were"2 Wilkinson: "aught"
3 Rorem: "persevere"
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
. I Would Live in Your Love
Language: English
I would live in your love as the sea grasses live in the sea, Borne up by each wave as it passes, drawn down by each wave that recedes; I would empty my soul of the dreams that have gathered in me, I would beat with your heart as it beats, I would follow your soul as it leads.
Text Authorship:
- by Sara Teasdale (1884 - 1933), appears in Helen of Troy and Other Poems, first published 1911 [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):
Set by Rachel Devore Fogarty , 2012 [ high voice and piano ]Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
3. The face of all the world has changed  [sung text not yet checked]
Language: English
The face of all the world is changed, I think, Since first I heard the footsteps of thy soul Move still, oh, still, beside me, as they stole Betwixt me and the dreadful outer brink Of obvious death, where I, who thought to sink, Was caught up into love, and taught the whole Of life in a new rhythm. The cup of dole God gave for baptism, I am fain to drink, And praise its sweetness, Sweet, with thee anear. The names of country, heaven, are changed away For where thou art or shall be, there or here; And this . . . this lute and song . . . loved yesterday, (The singing angels know) are only dear Because thy name moves right in what they say.
Text Authorship:
- by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861), no title, appears in Poems, in Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 7, first published 1850
See other settings of this text.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]Total word count: 294