by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
What poor astronomers are they
Language: English
What poor astronomers are they, Take women’s eyes for stars! And set their thoughts in battle ’ray, To fight such idle wars; When in the end they shall approve ’Tis but a jest drawn out of Love. And Love itself is but a jest Devised by idle heads, To catch young Fancies in the nest, And lay them in fool’s beds; That being hatched in beauty’s eyes They may be fledged ere they be wise. But yet it is a sport to see, How Wit will run on wheels! While Wit cannot persuaded be, With that which Reason feels, That women’s eyes and stars are odd And Love is but a feignèd god! But such as will run mad with Will, I cannot clear their sight But leave them to their study still, To look where is no light! Till time too late, we make them try, They study false Astronomy!
Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [author's text not yet checked 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 Dowland (1562 - 1626), "What poor astronomers are they", published 1603, from the collection The Third and Last Book of Songs or Airs [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2014-02-23
Line count: 24
Word count: 151