Come heavy souls oppressed with the...
Language: English
Come heavy souls oppressed with the weight
Of crimes, or Pangs, or want of your delight,
Come drown in Lethe's sleepy Lake,
Whatever makes you ake.
Drink health from poyson'd bowles
Breath out your cares together with your souls.
Cool Death's a salve
That all may have
There's no distinction in the grave;
Lay down your loads before deaths iron dore,
Sigh, and sigh out, groan once, and groan no more.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesConfirmed with William Strode, The Floating Island: a tragi-comedy in five acts and in verse, London, 1655, Act V, Scene VII, with the stage direction "An Attendant sings in a base."
Text Authorship:
- by William Stroud , no title, written 1636, London, H Twiford in Vine-court Middle-Temple, N Brooke at the Angel in Cornhill, and J Place at Furnivals-Inne-gate , first published 1655 [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 Henry Lawes (c1595 - 1662), "Desperato's banquet", from Ayres and Dialogues, Book 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2014-04-15
Line count: 11
Word count: 73