by William Smyth (1765 - 1849)
O might I but my Patrick love!
Language: English
O might I but my Patrick love! My mother scolds severely, And tells me I shall wretched prove, Because I love him dearly! In vain she rates me o'er and o'er With lessons cold and endless; It only makes me love him more, To find him poor and friendless. Refrain: Oh! Patrick, fly from me, Or I am lost for ever - Oh! Fortune kinder be, Nor thus two Lovers sever. What bliss, to me my Patrick cries, In splendour and in riches? He says, we love too little prize, That gold too much bewitches! More blest the lark, tho' hard its doom Whene'er the winter rages, Than birds, he says, of finer plume, That mope in gilded cages. (Refrain) He tells me when the bosom's warm, We mock the storm that's blowing, That honest hearts can take no harm Tho' hard the world be going. He says - ah me! I'm sore afraid Lest I from duty falter; I wish he could as soon persuade The mother as the daughter. (Refrain)
Authorship:
- by William Smyth (1765 - 1849) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 - 1827), "O might I but my Patrick love!", WoO. 153 (20 Irische Lieder mit Begleitung von Pianoforte, Violine und Violoncello) no. 16, G. 224 no. 16, published 1814/6 [ voice, piano, violin, violoncello ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Georg Pertz) , "O dürft' ich Patrick Liebe weihn!"
Researcher for this page: Ferdinando Albeggiani
This text was added to the website: 2005-01-12
Line count: 31
Word count: 173