by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 - 1834)
I ask'd my fair, one happy day
Language: English
I ask'd my fair, one happy day, What I should call her in my lay, By what sweet name from Rome or Greece, Neaera, Laura, Daphne, Chloris, Carina, Lalage, or Doris, Dorimene, or Lucrece? "Ah!" replied my gentle fair, "Dear one, what are names but air? Choose thou whatever suits the line; Call me Sappho, call me Chloris, Call me Lalage or Doris, Only -- only -- call me thine!"
About the headline (FAQ)
View text with all available footnotesText Authorship:
- by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 - 1834), "Epigrams" [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 Chester Edward Ide (1878 - 1944), "Names", published 1907. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 68