by Thomas Stanley (1625 - 1678)
Dear, back my wounded heart restore
Language: English
Dear, back my wounded heart restore, And turn away thy powerful eyes; Flatter my willing soul no more: Love must not hope what Fate denies. Take, take away thy smiles and kisses! Thy love wounds deeper than disdain: For he that sees the heaven he misses, Sustains two hells of loss and pain. Shouldst thou some other's suit prefer, I might return thy scorn to thee, And learn apostasy of her Who taught me, first, idolatry.- Or in thy unrelenting breast Should I disdain or coyness move, He by thy hate might be releas'd, Who now is prisoner to thy love. Since then, unkind Fate will divorce Those whom affection long united, Be thou as cruel as this force, And I in death shall be delighted. Thus, whilst so many suppliants woo, And beg they may thy pity prove, I only for thy scorn do sue: 'Tis charity here not to love.
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesConfirmed with Thomas Stanley: his original lyrics, complete, in their collated readings of 1647, 1651, 1657 by Thomas Stanley, edited by Louise Imogen Guiney, J R Tutin, Hull 1907. Page 57.
Text Authorship:
- by Thomas Stanley (1625 - 1678), "The Divorce" [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 John Gamble (d. 1687), no title, published 1657 [ voice and bass continuo ], from Ayres and dialogues, no. 15, Confirmed with Ayres and dialogues (to be sung to the theorbo-lute or bass-viol) by John Gamble. Printed by W. Godbid for Humphry Mosley at the Princes-Arms In St. Paul's Church-yard, London 1657.
Score: IMSLP [external link]  [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2025-11-30
Line count: 24
Word count: 153