O mistress mine, where are you roaming?
O stay and hear, your true love's coming
That can sing both high and low.
O trip no further, pretty sweeting;
For journeyes end in lovers' meeting,
Ev'ry wise man's son doth know.
What is love? 'Tis not hereafter;
Present mirth hath present laughter;
What's to come is still unsure:
And in delay there lies no plenty;
Then come and kiss me, sweet and twenty;
Youth's a stuff will not endure.
Composition:
Text Authorship:
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- CAT Catalan (Català) (Manuel Capdevila i Font) , copyright © 2025, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Paavo Cajander)
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo)
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (David Paley) , "O Fräulein meins! Woher du wanderst", copyright © 2012, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- IRI Irish (Gaelic) [singable] (Gabriel Rosenstock) , copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Paolo Montanari) , "O mia signora", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- POL Polish (Polski) (Józef Komierowski) , no title [an adaptation]
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: 80
Oh, senyora meva, per on passeges?
Oh, queda’t i escolta, ve el teu amor veritable
que tan pot cantar fort com suau.
No vagis més lluny, dolça bellesa;
els viatges acaben amb una reunió d’amants,
Com cada fill dun home savi ho ha de saber.
Què és l’amor? No és per més endavant:
l’alegria present té somriures presents;
el que ha de venir encara no és segur:
En la demora no hi ha plenitud;
llavors vine a besar-me, amb dolçor, vint vegades;
la joventut és una cosa que no dura.
