by John Fletcher (1579 - 1625)

There's not a swain of the plain
 (Sung text for setting by B. Britten)
 Matches base text
Language: English 
Our translations:  CAT GER
There's not a Swain, on the Plain,
would be bless'd like me, oh!
could you but on me smile;
but you appear so severe
that trembling with fear,
my heart goes pit-a-pat, all the while:
When I cry, must I die,
you make no reply, but look shy,
and with a scornful eye
kill me by your cruelty.
Oh! can you be so hard to me?

Composition:

    Set to music by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "There's not a swain of the plain", 1948 [ voice and piano ], a realization of the Purcell song. Confirmed with a CD booklet

Text Authorship:

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
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Elaine Marie Ortiz-Arandes) , "Es gibt im Land keinen jungen Liebhaber", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this page: Virginia Knight

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 11
Word count: 66