by Francis Quarles (1592 - 1644)
Ev'n like two little bank‑dividing...
Language: English
Our translations: FRE
Ev'n like two little bank-dividing brooks, That wash the pebbles with their wanton streams, And having rang'd and search'd a thousand nooks, Meet both at length in silver-breasted Thames, Where in a greater current they conjoin: So I my best-beloved's am; so he is mine. Ev'n so we met; and after long pursuit, Ev'n so we joyn'd; we both became entire; No need for either to renew a suit, For I was flax and he was flames of fire: Our firm-united souls did more than twine; So I my best-beloved's am; so he is mine. If all those glitt'ring Monarchs that command The servile quarters of this earthly ball, Should tender, in exchange, their shares of land, I would not change my fortunes for them all: Their wealth is but a counter to my coin: The world's but theirs; but my beloved's mine. Nay, more; If the fair Thespian Ladies all Should heap together their diviner treasure: That treasure should be deem'd a price too small To buy a minute's lease of half my pleasure; 'Tis not the sacred wealth of all the nine Can buy my heart from him, or his, from being mine. Nor Time, nor Place, nor Chance, nor Death can bow My least desires unto the least remove; He's firmly mine by oath; I his by vow; He's mine by faith; and I am his by love; He's mine by water; I am his by wine, Thus I my best-beloved's am; thus he is mine. He is my Altar; I, his Holy Place; I am his guest; and he, my living food; I'm his by penitence; he mine by grace; I'm his by purchase; he is mine, by blood; He's my supporting elm; and I his vine; Thus I my best beloved's am; thus he is mine. He gives me wealth; I give him all my vows: I give him songs; he gives me length of dayes; With wreaths of grace he crowns my conqu'ring brows, And I his temples with a crown of Praise, Which he accepts as an everlasting signe, That I my best-beloved's am; that he is mine.
B. Britten sets stanzas 1-3, 5-7
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesConfirmed with The Oxford Book of Seventeenth Century Verse, H. J. C. Grierson and G. Bullough, eds., Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1934, pages 348-349. The poem is preceded by the following epigraph:
My beloved is mine, and I am his; He feedeth among the lilies (Canticles ii. 16)
Text Authorship:
- by Francis Quarles (1592 - 1644), no title [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 Jack Hamilton Beeson (b. 1921), "On a spiritual fever", 1946 [ soprano and piano ], from Five Songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Canticle I (My beloved is mine)", op. 40 (1947), stanzas 1-3,5-7 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "The Best Beloved", op. 340 (1952) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by David Sisco , "My best beloved", 2003 [ tenor and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 42
Word count: 355