by Peter Hausted (d. 1645)
Have pity, Grief
Language: English
Have pity, Grief; I cannot pay
The tribute which I owe thee, tears;
Alas those fountains are grown dry,
And 'tis in vain to hope supply
From others' eyes; for each man bears
Enough about him of his own
To spend his stock of tears upon.
Woo then the heavens, gentle Love,
To melt a cloud for my relief,
Or woo the deep, or woo the grave;
Woo what thou wilt, so I may have
Wherewith to pay my debt, for Grief
Has vowed unless I quickly pay,
To take both life and love away.
Confirmed with Lyrics from the Dramatists of the Elizabethan Age, ed. by A. H. Bullen, London: Lawrence and Bullen, 1891, page 196.
Text Authorship:
- by Peter Hausted (d. 1645), "Have pity, Grief", appears in The Rival Friends, first published 1632 [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 Bernard van Dieren (1887 - 1936), "Have pity, Grief", c1925 [ tenor, viola, contrabass ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2022-01-09
Line count: 14
Word count: 95