Poor harmless insect, thither fly, And life’s short hour enjoy; ’Tis all thou hast, and why should I That little all destroy. Then flutter still thy silken wings, In rich embroid'ry drest; And sport upon the gale that flings Sweet odours from his [vest]1.
Six Songs & Duetts
by Mary Southcote
1. To the Butterfly  [sung text checked 1 time]
Authorship:
- by Ann Taylor (1782 - 1866), "To a Butterfly, on Giving it Liberty"
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View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Original poems, for infant minds, by several young persons, Vol. I. Twenty-Fourth Edition. London: Harvey and Darton, 1826, pages 17-18.
1 Southcote: "breast"Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
2. I gaz'd on the rose‑bush  [sung text checked 1 time]
I gaz'd on the Rosebush, I heav'd a sad sigh, And mine eyelid was gemm'd by a tear, Ah let me, I cried, by my Marian lie, For all that I value sleeps here. This Rose-tree once flourish'd and sweeten'd the air, Like its blossom, all lovely she grew; The scent of her breath like its fragrance was rare, And her cheeks were more fresh than its hue. She planted, she lov'd it, she dew'd its gay head, And its bloom every rival defied, But alas! what was beauty or virtue soon fled, In spring they both blossom'd and died.
The text shown is a variant of another text. [ View differences ]
It is based on
- a text in English by Caroline Symmons (1789 - 1803), "Zelida and the faded Rosebush, which grew near her Tomb"
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]3. Flowers are fresh and bushes green  [sung text checked 1 time]
Flowers are fresh, and bushes green, Cheerily the linnets sing; Winds are soft, and skies serene; Time, however, soon shall throw Winter’s snow O’er the [buxom]1 breast of Spring! Time shall make the bushes green; Time dissolve the winter snow; Winds be soft, and skies serene; Linnets sing their wonted strain: But again Blighted love shall never blow!
Authorship:
- by Percy Clinton Sydney Smythe, Viscount Strangford (1780 - 1855), "Blighted Love"
Based on:
- a text in Portuguese (Português) by Luiz Vaz de Camõens (1524? - 1580) [text unavailable]
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View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with the anthology The World’s Best Poetry, edited by Bliss Carman et al., Philadelphia: John D. Morris & Co., 1904.
1 Southcote: "blithesome"Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
4. Ah let the tear unheeded flow  [sung text checked 1 time]
Ah let the tear unheeded flow, That trembles in thine eye, Nor vainly strive the cause to know, that prompts the secret sigh. When hope attends the tuneful strain, And paints the future fair, 'Tis sweetly soothing to complain, But silence suits despair.
Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]5. The Slave of Love I'll Never Be  [sung text checked 1 time]
The slave of love I'll never be,
My soul defies the urchin's art;
Go, blind deceiver, go and play
On softer hearts thy treacherous part.
To friendship only will I give
Those vows which others to thee pay,
And bless'd with her seraphic smile,
My days in peace will glide away.
[On mine thy boasted power is lost]1,
Deceitful boy, thy wiles are vain;
I laugh to scorn thy dreadful frown,
And treat thy proffers with disdain.
[ ... ]
Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author ( S. D. ) , "The Resolve "
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View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with The Casket: Consisting of Literary, Entertaining, and Instructive Tales, Original Essays, Delineations of Character, Facetia, Poetry, the Gems of Modern Literature, &c. &c. &c., Saturday November 3, 1827, no. 39, London: Cowie and Strange, page 312.
Note provided by Emily Ezust: Southcote's setting uses the word "arts" in stanza 1, line 2, word 6, but this is probably a misprint as the final word in the stanza was not changed to "parts" and would not have made sense.
1 Southcote: "Then slave of love I'll never be"Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
6. The Kiss, Dear Maid  [sung text checked 1 time]
The kiss, dear maid, thy lip has left, Shall never part from mine, Till happier hours restore the gift Untainted back to thine. Thy parting glance, which fondly beams, An equal love, may see; [That]1 tear that from thine eyelid streams Can weep no change in me. By day or night, in weal or woe, [That]2 heart, no longer free, Must bear the love it cannot show, And silent ache for thee.
Authorship:
- by George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord Byron (1788 - 1824), "On parting", written 1811, appears in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, a Romaunt: and other Poems, in Poems, first published 1812
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Isabelle Cecchini) , "Le baiser, chère enfant, que ta lèvre a laissé", copyright © 2003, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FRE French (Français) (Alexis Paulin Pâris) , "Le départ"
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Georg Pertz) , "Der Scheidekuß von deinem Mund"
Confirmed with Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, a Romaunt: and other Poems, seventh Edition, London: John Murray, 1814, pages 216 - 217. Appears in Poems.
1 Beethoven, Southcote: "The"2 Beethoven: "This"
Researcher for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani