by Matthew Prior (1667 - 1721)
Love arms himself in Celia's eyes
Language: English
Love arms himself in Celia's eyes Whene'er weak reason would rebel, And ev'ry time I dare be wise, Alas a deeper wound I feel. Repeated thoughts present the ill, Which seeing I must still endure, They tell me love has darts to kill And wisdom has no pow'r to cure. Then cruel reason give me rest. Quit in my heart thy feeble hold, Go try thy force in Celia's breast, For that is disengag'd and cold. There all thy nicest arts employ, Confess thyself her beauty's slave, And argue whilst she may destroy How great, how godlike 'tis to save.
Authorship:
- by Matthew Prior (1667 - 1721) [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 Henry Purcell (1658/9 - 1695), "Love arms himself in Celia's eyes", Z. 392, published 1698. [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: 16
Word count: 100