by Aurelian Townshend (flourished 1601-1643)
Youth and Beauty
Language: English
Thou art so fair, and yong withall, thouy kindl'st yong desires in me, restoreing life to leaves that fall, and fight to Eyes that hardly see, halfe those fresh Beauties bloom in thee. Those under sev'rall Hearbs and Flowr's Disguis'd, were all Medea gave, When she recal'd Times flying bowrs, And aged Aelon from his grave, For Beauty can both kill and save. Youth it enflames, but age it cheers, I would go back, but not return, To twenty but to twice those yeers; Not blaze, but ever constant burn, For fear my Cradle prove my Urn.
Text Authorship:
- by Aurelian Townshend (flourished 1601-1643) [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 Henry Lawes (c1595 - 1662), "Youth and Beauty", from the collection Ayres and Dialogues, Book 1 [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2014-04-15
Line count: 15
Word count: 97