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by Ben Jonson (1572 - 1637)

A nymph's passion
Language: English 
I love, and he loves me again,
    Yet dare I not tell who;
  For if the nymphs should know my swain,
    I fear they'd love him too;
      Yet if he be not known,
    The pleasure is as good as none,
For that's a narrow joy is but our own.
 
  I'll tell, that if they be not glad,
    They may not envy me;
  But then if I grow jealous mad
    And of them pitied be,
      It were a plague 'bove scorn;
    And yet it cannot be forborne
Unless my heart would, as my thought, be torn.
 
  He is, if they can find him, fair
    And fresh, and fragrant too,
  As summer's sky or purgéd air,
    And looks as lilies do
      That are this morning blown:
    Yet, yet I doubt he is not known,
And fear much more that more of him be shown.
 
  But he hath eyes so round and bright,
    As make away my doubt,
  Where Love may all his torches light,
    Though Hate had put them out;
      But then t' increase my fears
    What nymph soe'er his voice but hears
Will be my rival, though she have but ears.
 
  I'll tell no more, and yet I love,
    And he loves me; yet no
  One unbecoming thought doth move
    From either heart I know:
      But so exempt from blame
    As it would be to each a fame,
If love or fear would let me tell his name.

Confirmed with English Poetry I: From Chaucer to Gray. Vol. XL. The Harvard Classics. New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1909–14; Bartleby.com, 2001. www.bartleby.com/40/155.html.


Text Authorship:

  • by Ben Jonson (1572 - 1637), "A nymph's passion" [author's text checked 1 time 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 Benjamin C. S. Boyle , "A nymph's passion", op. 25 no. 1, published 2011, from Folksongs from another World, no. 1, voice and piano [
     text not verified 
    ]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2015-12-29
Line count: 35
Word count: 237

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