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by Ben Jonson (1572 - 1637)

Though I am young and cannot tell
Language: English 
Though I am young and cannot tell
Either what love or death is well,
Yet I have heard they both bear darts,
And both do aim at human hearts;
And then again I have been told,
Love wounds with heat, and death with cold;
So that I fear they do but bring
Extreams to touch, and mean one thing.

As in a ruin, we it call
One thing to be blown up, or fall;
Or to our end, like way we have,
By a flash of lightning, or a wave;
So love's inflamed shaft or brand,
May kill as soon as death's cold hand;
Except love's fires the virtue have
To fright the frost out of the grave.

Available sung texts:   ← What is this?

•   I. Gurney •   N. Lanier 

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Text Authorship:

  • by Ben Jonson (1572 - 1637), written 1634, appears in The Sad Shepherd, or, a tale of Robin Hood, Act I, Scene 2, unfinished [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 Benjamin C. S. Boyle , "Karolin's song", op. 25 no. 5, published 2011, from Folksongs from another World, no. 5, voice and piano [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Mary Grant Carmichael (1851 - 1935), "Though I am young and cannot tell", published 1898 [ voice and piano ], London: J. B. Cramer & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890 - 1937), "Song from The Sad Shepherd", 1918, published 1952 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Nicholas Lanier (1588 - 1666), "Though I am young", published 1652 [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 121

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