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. 

[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. 

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.

M. Southcote sets stanzas 1, 3, 2

About the headline (FAQ)

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"

Text Authorship:

• by Anonymous / Unidentified Author ( S. D. ) , "The Resolve " [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):

• by Mary Southcote , "The Slave of Love I'll Never Be", published 1815?, stanzas 1,3,2 [ voice and piano ], from Six Songs & Duetts, no. 5 [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2024-01-02
Line count: 12
Word count: 79