Twelve Songs

Song Cycle by Zoltán Jeney (b. 1943)

7. In a mirtle shade  [sung text not yet checked]

Subtitle: Adrian Leverkühn's song

Language: English 
Why should I be bound to thee,
O my lovely Myrtle-tree?
Love, free Love, cannot be bound
To any tree that grows on ground.

O! how sick and weary I
Underneath my Myrtle lie;
Like to dung upon the ground,
Underneath my Myrtle bound.

Oft my Myrtle sigh'd in vain
To behold my heavy chain:
Oft my Father saw us sigh,
And laugh'd at our simplicity.

So I smote him, and his gore
Stain'd the roots my Myrtle bore.
But the time of youth is fled,
And grey hairs are on my head.

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
Total word count: 93