The lover's song | Ah! when will this long weary day have end

Ah! when will this long weary day have...

Language: English

Ah! when will this long weary day have end,
And lende me leave to come unto my Love?
How slowly do the houres theyr numbers spend? 
How slowly does sad Time his feathers move?
Hast thee, O fayrest planet, to thy home,
Within the Westerne fome:
Thy tyred steedes long since have need of rest.
Long though it be, at last I see it gloome, 
And the bright evening-star with golden creast
Appeare out of the East.
Fayre childe of beauty! glorious lampe of love!
That all the host of heaven in rankes doost lead,
And guidest lovers through the nights sad dread, 
How chearefully thou lookest from above,
And seemst to laugh atweene thy twinkling light,
As ioying in the sight
Of these glad many, which for ioy do sing, 
That all the woods them answer, and their eccho ring!

Available sung texts: ← What is this?

• R. Vaughan Williams

About the headline (FAQ)

Confirmed with The Poetical Works of Edmund Spenser, Volume V, edited by Francis J. Child, London: Imprinted for William Ponsonbie, dwelling in Paules Churchyard at the Signe of the Bishops Head, 1591.

Modernized form used by Vaughan Williams:

Ah! When will this long weary day have end,
and lend me leave to come unto my love? 
How slowly do the hours their numbers spend?
How slowly does sad Time his feathers move?
Haste thee O fairest Planet to thy home
Within the Western foam:
Thy tired steeds long since have need of rest.
Long tho‘ it be, at last I see it gloom,
And the bright evening star with golden crest
Appear out of the East.
Fair child of beauty, glorious lamp of love
That all the host of Heaven in ranks dost lead,  
And guidest lovers thro‘ the night's sad dread,
How cheerfully thou lookest from above,
And seem‘st to laugh atween thy twinkling light
As joying in the sight
Of these glad many which for joy do sing,
That all the woods them answer and their echo ring.

Text Authorship:

by Edmund Spenser (1552 - 1599), no title, appears in Amoretti and Epithalamion, in Epithalamion, no. 16 [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 Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "The lover's song", 1957, published 1957 [ baritone, mixed chorus, orchestra ], from cantata Epithalamion, no. 8, London, Oxford University Press [sung text checked 1 time]

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Gustav Ringel

This text was added to the website: 2020-01-11
Line count: 18
Word count: 141