Language: English 
I take no pleasure in the sun's bright beams,
Nor in the crystal river's purling streams;
But in a dark and silent shady grove,
I sigh out woes of my neglected love.
Come, cruel fair, and charm me, ere I go
To Death's embraces in the shades below.
For tho' condemn'd and fetter'd here I lie,
'Till I your sentence have, I cannot die.
One look from those dear eyes, and then adieu
To all your cruelties and beauties too.

According to Hyperion's CD CDA66720, this poem was found in a collection of poetry in the late seventeenth century at Winchester College (British Museum MS 14047, f.126v)." It is included in a set of verse with the heading "Some of my dear Mother Chamberlaine's Verses". Robert King © 2003

Composition:

    Set to music by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "I take no pleasure", 1960 [ voice and piano ], a realization of the Purcell song. Confirmed with a CD booklet

Text Authorship:

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Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 10
Word count: 80