Why so pale and wan, fond lover?
  Prithee, why so pale?
Will, when looking well can't move her,
  Looking ill prevail?
  Prithee, why so pale?

Why so dull and mute, young sinner?
  Prithee, why so mute?
Will, when speaking well can't win her,
  Saying nothing [do't]1?
  Prithee, why so mute?

Quit, quit for shame, this will not move,
  This cannot take her;
If of herself she will not love,
  Nothing can make her;
  [The devil take her!]2

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)

Confirmed with Works in prose and Verse, by Sir John Suckling, Aglaura, Act IV, Scene 2, G. Routledge, London 1910, Page 115.

¹ Stöhr: "do"
² Britten: "Let who will take her!"

Text Authorship:

• by John Suckling, Sir (1609 - 1642), no title, written 1637, Printed by John Haviland for Thomas Walkley, at the sign of the Flying Horse near York House, London, first published 1638 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Jean Mary Anderson (b. 1939), "Why so pale and wan, fond lover?", c1987, from Love's Whimsy, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Thomas Augustine Arne (1710 - 1778), "Why so pale and wan" [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Prithee" [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Norman Dello Joio (1913 - 2008), "Why so pale and wan, fond lover?", published c1954 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Madeleine Dring (1923 - 1977), "Encouragements to a Lover", published 1992 [ voice and piano ], confirmed with Seven Songs Edited by Roger Lord, Thames Publishing, London 1992. [sung text checked 1 time]
• by John Linton Gardner (1917 - 2011), "Why so pale and wan, fond lover?", op. 1 no. 1 (1946) [ women's chorus and piano ], from Three songs for women's chorus and piano, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by William Martin Yeates Hurlstone (1876 - 1906), "Why so pale and wan, fond lover?", 1895 [ SATB chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by William Lawes (1602 - 1645), "Why so pale and wan, fond lover?", from Songs from the Autograph Songbook, no. 46 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Leonard J[ordan] Lehrman (b. 1949), "Simple song", op. 35 no. 1 (1973), first performed 1973 [ voice and harpsichord or piano ], from Simple songs, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Horatio William Parker (1863 - 1919), "Orsames' song", op. 10 no. 3, published 1886 [ voice and piano ], from Three Love Songs, no. 3, Boston : Schmidt; first published as op. 14 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir (1848 - 1918), "Why so pale and wan?", 1895, published 1895, from English Lyrics, Third Set, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "Why so pale and wan?", op. 28 no. 2 (1925), published 1926 [ voice and piano ], from Five Jacobean Lyrics, no. 2, London, Boosey [sung text not yet checked]
• by Edmund Duncan Rubbra (1901 - 1986), "Why so pale and wan", op. 22 (Two Songs) no. 2 (1928), published 1929 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Cyril Meir Scott (1879 - 1970), "Why so pale and wan?", op. 55 (Three Songs) no. 2, published 1907 [ voice and piano ], from Two Old English Lyrics, no. 2, London : Elkin [sung text not yet checked]
• by Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "Why so pale and wan", 1877, published 1877 [ voice and piano ], from Three Ditties of the Olden Time, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Richard Stöhr (1874 - 1967), "Why so pale and wan", op. 104a (Ten Songs) no. 4 (1944), published 2015 [ voice and piano ], unpublished; manuscript at Saint Michael's College Archives and available in scanned form at the Petrucci Music Library [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Frank Valentin Van der Stucken (1858 - 1929), "Why so pale?", published 1905 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Henk van der Vliet , "Why so pale and wan", 1977, from 5 songs, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Charles Wood (1866 - 1926), "Song", 1891, published 1892 [ voice and piano ], from Four Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• GER German (Deutsch) (Adolf von Marées) , "Warum so blaß?"

Research team for this page: Ted Perry , Guy Laffaille [Guest Editor] , Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor] , Johann Winkler

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 15
Word count: 77