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[Sweetheart, do]1 not love too long: I loved long and long, And grew to be out of fashion Like an old song. All through the years of our youth Neither could have known Their own thought from the other's, We were so much at one. But O, in a minute [she]2 changed -- O do not love too long, Or [you will]3 grow out of fashion Like an old song.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with W. B. Yeats, Later Poems, Macmillan and Co., London, 1926, page 86.
1 Wilkinson: "O do"2 Rorem: "he"
3 Wilkinson: "you'll"
Authorship:
- by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "O do not love too long", appears in In the Seven Woods, first published 1904 [author's text checked 2 times 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 Seymour Barab (1921 - 2014), "Do not love too long" [ soprano, clarinet, and piano ], from Bits and Pieces, no. 7, ECS Publishing [sung text not yet checked]
- by Steven Ebel , "An old song", 2011 [ high voice and string quartet ], from Irish Lullabies, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ned Rorem (1923 - 2022), "O do not love too long" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Raymond Warren (b. 1928), "O do not love too long", published 1971 [ baritone and piano ], from Songs of Old Age [sung text not yet checked]
- by Raymond Warren (b. 1928), "O do not love too long", 1965 [ tenor and guitar ], from The Pity of Love [sung text not yet checked]
- by Stephen Wilkinson (b. 1919), "O do not love too long" [ voice and piano ], from Eternal Summer, no. 9 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (Pierre Mathé) , "Oh, n'aime pas trop longtemps", copyright © 2016, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: John Versmoren
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 69
[Mon amour]1, n'aime pas trop longtemps : J' ai aimé longtemps et longtemps, Et fini par passer de mode, Comme une vieille chanson. Pendant toutes les années de notre jeunesse Aucun de nous n'aurait pu distinguer Ses propres pensées de celles de l'autre, Tant nous étions un. Mais oh, [elle]2 a changé en une minute – Oh, n'aime pas trop longtemps Ou tu finiras par passer de mode, Comme une vieille chanson.
1 Wilkinson: "Oh"
2 Rorem: "il"
Authorship:
- Translation from English to French (Français) copyright © 2016 by Pierre Mathé, (re)printed on this website with kind permission. To reprint and distribute this author's work for concert programs, CD booklets, etc., you may ask the copyright-holder(s) directly or ask us; we are authorized to grant permission on their behalf. Please provide the translator's name when contacting us.
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Based on:
- a text in English by William Butler Yeats (1865 - 1939), "O do not love too long", appears in In the Seven Woods, first published 1904
This text was added to the website: 2016-01-04
Line count: 12
Word count: 72