Some say that Love's a little boy And some say it's a bird, Some say it makes the world go round And some say that's absurd: But when I asked the man next door Who looked as if he knew, His wife was very cross indeed And said it wouldn't do. Does it look like a pair of pyjamas Or the ham in a temperance hotel, Does its odour remind one of llamas Or has it a comforting smell? Is it prickly to touch as a hedge is Or soft as eiderdown fluff, Is it sharp or quite smooth at the edges? O tell me the truth about love. ... I looked inside the summer-house, It wasn't ever there, I've tried the Thames at Maidenhead And Brighton's bracing air; I don't know what the blackbird sang Or what the roses said, But it wasn't in the chicken-run Or underneath the bed. Can it pull extraordinary faces, Is it usually sick on a swing, Does it spend all its time at the races Or fiddling with pieces of string, Has it views of its own about money, Does it think Patriotism enough, Are its stories vulgar but funny? O tell me the truth about love. Your feelings when you meet it, I Am told you can't forget. I've sought it since I was a child But haven't found it yet; I'm getting on for thirty-five, And still I do not know What kind of creature it can be That bothers people so. ...
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Note: Britten's setting begins with a spoken line that does not appear in the Auden poem: "Liebe l'amour amor amoris."Composition:
- Set to music by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Tell me the truth about love", 1938, published 1980, stanzas 1-2, 5-7 [ voice and piano ], from Cabaret Songs, no. 1
Text Authorship:
- by W. H. (Wystan Hugh) Auden (1907 - 1973), "O tell me the truth about love"
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Researcher for this page: David K. Smythe
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 64
Word count: 404