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by Elkanah Settle (1648 - 1724)

When I have often heard young maids complaining
 (Sung text for setting by H. Purcell)
 Matches base text
Language: English 
A Nymph:
 When I have often heard young Maids complaining, 
 That when Men promise most they most deceive, 
 The I thought none of them worthy of my gaining; 
 And what they Swore, resolv'd ne're to believe. 
 But when so humbly he made his Addresses, 
 With Looks so soft, and with Language so kind, 
 I thought it Sin to refuse his Caresses; 
 Nature o'ercame, and I soon chang'd my Mind. 
 Should he employ all his wit in deceiving, 
 Stretch his Invention, and artfully feign; 
 I find such Charms, such true Joy in believing, 
 I'll have the Pleasure, let him have the Pain. 
 If he proves Perjur'd, I shall not be Cheated, 
 He may deceive himself, but never me; 
 'Tis what I look for, and shan't be defeated, 
 For I'll be as false and inconstant as he. 
 A Thousand Thousand ways we'll find 
 To Entertain the Hours; 
 No Two shall e're be known so kind, 
 No Life so Blest as ours. 

Composition:

    Set to music by Henry Purcell (1658/9 - 1695), "When I have often heard young maids complaining", Z. 629 no. 23 (1692), published 1702, from The Fairy Queen, an operatic adaptation of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream, no. 23, published in Orpheus Britannicus, Vol. II

Text Authorship:

  • by Elkanah Settle (1648 - 1724)

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Researcher for this page: Barry Kamil

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 21
Word count: 159

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