by Richard Lovelace (1618 - 1658)
Tell me not, sweet, I am unkind
Language: English
Tell me not, sweet, I am unkind, That from the nunnery Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind To war and arms I fly. True, a new mistress now I chase, The first foe in the field; And with a stronger faith embrace A sword, a horse, a shield. Yet this inconstancy is such As you too shall adore; I could not love thee, dear, so much, Lov'd I not honour more.
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Text Authorship:
- by Richard Lovelace (1618 - 1658) [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 Richard Jackson Cumming (b. 1928), "Going to the warres", 1963, published 1969 [ medium voice and piano ], from We Happy Few, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir (1848 - 1918), "To Lucasta, on going to the wars", 1895, published 1895, from English Lyrics, Third Set, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Arthur Somervell, Sir (1863 - 1937), "To Lucasta, on going to the wars", published 1927 [ voice and piano ], from Three New Old Songs, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Harriet Ware (1877 - 1962), "To Lucasta", published 1909 [ voice and piano ], Cincinnati : John Church [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Adolf von Marées) , "Abschied des Cavaliers"
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 72