Dear, shall we talk or will that cloud the sky? Will you be Mother Comfort or shall I? If I should love him where would our lives be? And if you turn him out at last, then friendship pity me! My longing, like my heart, beats to and fro. Oh that a single life could be both Yes and No. Ashamed to grant and frightened to refuse – Pity has chosen: Power has still to choose. But darling, when that stretched out will is tired Surely your timid prettiness longs to be overpowered? Sure gossips have this sweet facility To tell transparent lies and, without pain, to cry. Will you be Mother Comfort or shall I?
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Text Authorship:
- by Montagu Slater (1902 - 1956) [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 (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Mother Comfort", 1937, published 1937 [ vocal duet for 2 sopranos with piano ], from Two Ballads for two voices and piano, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Elaine Marie Ortiz-Arandes) , "Mutter Trost", copyright © 2015, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2015-09-24
Line count: 13
Word count: 116