by Thomas Stanley (1625 - 1678)
Language: English
When, cruel fair one, I am slain
By thy disdain,
And, as a trophy of thy scorn,
To some old tomb am borne,
Thy fetters must their pow'r bequeath
To those of Death;
Nor can thy flame immortal burn
Like monumental fires within an urn;
Thus freed from thy proud empire, I shall prove
There is more liberty in Death than Love.
And when forsaken lovers come
To see my tomb,
Take heed thou mix not with the crowd,
And, as a victor, proud
To view the spoils thy beauty made,
Press near my shade,
Lest thy too cruel breath or name
Should fan my ashes back into a flame.
And thou, devour'd by this revengeful fire,
His sacrifice, who died as thine expire.
...
But if cold earth or marble must
Conceal my dust,
Whilst hid in some dark ruins, I
Dumb and forgotten lie,
The pride of all thy victory
Will sleep with me;
And they, who should attest thy glory,
Will, or forget, or not believe this story.
Then to increase thy triumph, let me rest,
Since by thine eye slain, buried in thy breast.
Composition:
- Set to music by John Gamble (d. 1687), "The Tomb", published 1657, stanzas 1,2,4 [ voice and bass continuo ], from Ayres and dialogues, no. 3, Confirmed with Ayres and dialogues (to be sung to the theorbo-lute or bass-viol) by John Gamble. Printed by W. Godbid for Humphry Mosley at the Princes-Arms In St. Paul's Church-yard, London 1657.
Score: IMSLP [external link]
Text Authorship:
- by Thomas Stanley (1625 - 1678), "The Tomb"
See other settings of this text.
Research team for this page: Ted Perry , Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 40
Word count: 251