by Samuel Daniel (1562 - 1619)
Language: English
Care-charmer Sleep, son of the sable Night, Brother to Death, in silent darkness born, Relieve my anguish and restore thy light, With dark forgetting of my cares, return; And let the day be time enough to mourn The shipwreck of my ill-adventur'd youth: Let waking eyes suffice to wail their scorn, Without the torment of the night's untruth. Cease, dreams, th' images of day-desires To model forth the passions of the morrow; Never let rising sun approve you liars, To add more grief to aggravate my sorrow. Still let me sleep, embracing clouds in vain; And never wake to feel the day's disdain.
Note: Imitated from Desportes, Hippolyte, 75.
Researcher for this page: Robert Grady
Composition:
- Set to music by Dominick Argento (1927 - 2019), "Sleep", 1957, published 1970 [ high voice and piano ], from 6 Elizabethan Songs, no. 2, New York, Boosey
Text Authorship:
- by Samuel Daniel (1562 - 1619), "Delia XLV", appears in Delia. Contayning certayne sonnets: with the complaint of Rosamond, first published 1592
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Richard Flatter) , "Sonett an den Schlaf", appears in Die Fähre, Englische Lyrik aus fünf Jahrhunderten, first published 1936
Researcher for this page: Robert Grady
This text was added to the website: 2004-06-26
Line count: 14
Word count: 107