Take, o take those lips away,
That so sweetly [were]1 forsworn;
And those eyes, the break of day,
Lights [that]2 do mislead the morn:
But my kisses bring again;
Seals of love, [but]3 seal'd in vain, sealed in vain.

Hide, o hide those hills of snow
that thy frozen bosom wears,
On whose tops the pinks that grow
are yet of those that April wears;
But first set my poor heart free,
Bound in those icy chains by thee.

F. Ayres sets stanza 1
R. Quilter sets stanza 1
P. Warlock sets stanza 1 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
W. Fortner sets stanza 1
N. Lee sets stanza 1
H. Gál sets stanza 1
S. Gerber sets stanza 1
J. Kaufer sets stanza 1
W. Jackson sets stanza 1
J. Hall sets stanza 1

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
Note: quoted by John Fletcher, in Bloody Brother, 1639 and by William Shakespeare, in Measure for Measure, Act IV, scene 1, c1604 (just one stanza)
¹ Bishop: "are"
² Bishop: "which"
³ Bishop: "tho'"

Text Authorship:

• by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
• sometimes misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)

See other settings of this text.

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (L. A. J. Burgersdijk)
• FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Paavo Cajander)
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GER German (Deutsch) (Sarah L. Weller) , "Nimm, so nimm doch Deine Lippen fort", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• POL Polish (Polski) (Jan Kasprowicz) , "Śpiew Pacholęcia", Warsaw, first published 1907

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-04
Line count: 12
Word count: 79

Bleibt, o bleibt ihr Lippen ferne,
Die so lieblich falsch geschworen,
Und ihr Augen, Morgensterne,
Die mir keinen Tag geboren!
Doch den Kuß gib mir zurück, gieb zurück,
Falsches Siegel falschem Glück, falschem Glück! --

Birg, o birg der Hügel Schnee,
Die dein eisger Busen trägt,
Knospen, die ich blühn dort seh,
Sind wie vom April gehegt.
Doch mein Herz mir wieder bring, wieder bring!
Das du zwangst mit eisgem Ring, eisgem Ring.