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possibly by Walter Raleigh, Sir (1552? - 1618)

A lover's complaint
Language: English 
As you came from the holy land
Of Walsinghame,
Met you not with my true love
By the way as you came ?

How shall I know your true love,
That have met many one,
As I went to the holy land,
That have come, that have gone ?

She is neither white nor brown,
But as the heavens fair ;
There is none hath a form so divine
In the earth or the air.

Such a one did I meet, good sir,
Such an angelic face,
Who like a queen, like a nymph, did appear,
By her gait, by her grace.

She hath left me here all alone,
All alone, as unknown,
Who sometimes did me lead with herself,
And me loved as her own.

What's the cause that she leaves you alone,
And a new way doth take,
Who loved you once as her own,
And her joy did you make ?

I have loved her all my youth,
But now old, as you see,
Love likes not the falling fruit
From the withered tree.

Know that Love is a careless child,
And forgets promise past ;
He is blind, he is deaf when he list,
And in faith never fast.

His desire is a dureless content,
And a trustless joy ;
He is won with a world of despair,
And is lost with a toy.

Of womankind such indeed is the love,
Or the word love abusèd,
Under which many childish desires
And conceits are excusèd.

But true love is a durable fire,
In the mind ever burning,
Never sick, never old, never dead,
From itself never turning.

Possibly a re-working of a folk text; one of many versions with many titles, some shown below.


Text Authorship:

  • possibly by Walter Raleigh, Sir (1552? - 1618), title 1: "Walsignhame", title 2: "Pilgrim to pilgrim", title 3: "A lover's complaint" [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):

    [ None yet in the database ]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

  • Also set in English, adapted by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist , appears in Hamlet [an adaptation] and sometimes misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616); composed by Kim Borg, Benjamin C. S. Boyle, Johannes Brahms, Benjamin Burrows, Stanley Grill, Natho Henn, John Jeffreys, Osvaldo Costa de Lacerda, Elizabeth Maconchy, Roger Quilter, Wolfgang Michael Rihm, Maude Valérie White.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Friedrich Ludwig Schröder (1744 - 1816) , no title, appears in Dramatische Werke, in Hamlet, Prinz von Dänemark. Ein Trauerspiel in sechs Aufzügen. Nach Shakesspear [sic] ; composed by Johann Rudolf Zumsteeg.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767 - 1845) , no title ; composed by Johannes Brahms, Eduard Lassen.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Karl Joseph Simrock (1802 - 1876) , no title, appears in Shakespeare in deutscher Übersetzung, in 6. Hamlet, first published 1868 and sometimes misattributed to Ludwig Wilhelm Friedrich Seeger (1810 - 1864); composed by Richard Georg Strauss.
    • Go to the text.
  • Also set in Polish (Polski), a translation by Krystyn Ostrowski (1811 - 1882) , no title ; composed by Stanisław Moniuszko.
    • Go to the text.

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2017-08-02
Line count: 44
Word count: 265

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