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by John Donne (1572 - 1631)

Thou hast made me
 (Sung text for setting by B. Britten)
 Matches original text
Language: English 
Our translations:  FRE GER
Thou hast made me, and shall thy work decay?
Repaire me now, for now mine end doth haste,
I runne to death, and death meets me as fast,
And all my pleasures are like yesterday;
I dare not move my dim eyes anyway,
Despaire behind, and death before doth cast
Such terror, and my feeble flesh doth waste
By sinne in it, which it t'wards Hell doth weigh;
Onely thou art above, and when t'wards thee
By thy leave I can looke, I rise againe;
But our old subtle foe so tempteth me,
That not one houre myselfe can I sustaine;
Thy Grace may wing me to prevent his art,
And thou like Adamant draw mine iron heart.

Composition:

    Set to music by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Thou hast made me", op. 35 no. 8 (1945), published 1946 [ high voice and piano ], from The Holy Sonnets of John Donne, no. 8

Text Authorship:

  • by John Donne (1572 - 1631), no title, appears in Holy Sonnets, no. 1

See other settings of this text.

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

  • FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
  • GER German (Deutsch) (Daniel Johannsen) , copyright © 2020, (re)printed on this website with kind permission


Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 118

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–Emily Ezust, Founder

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