by Thomas Campion (1567 - 1620)
Shall I come, sweet love?
Language: English
Our translations: GER
Shall I come, sweet love, to thee When the evening beams are set? Shall I not excluded be? Will you find no feignèd let? Let me not, for pity, more Tell the long hours at your door. Who can tell what thief or foe In the covert of the night For his prey will work my woe, Or through wicked foul despite? So may I die unredressed, Ere my long love be possessed. But to let such dangers pass, Which a lover's thoughts disdain, 'Tis enough in such a place To attend Love's joys in vain. Do not mock me in thy bed, While these cold nights freeze me dead.
Text Authorship:
- by Thomas Campion (1567 - 1620) [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 Thomas Campion (1567 - 1620), "Shall I come, sweet love?", published 1617 [ voice and lute or piano ], from The Third and Fourth Booke of Ayres - The Third Booke, no. 8 [sung text checked 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) [singable] (Bertram Kottmann) , "Soll ich, Liebste, zu Dir gehn", copyright © 2014, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
- GER German (Deutsch) (Richard Flatter) , "Verstimmtes Ständchen", appears in Die Fähre, Englische Lyrik aus fünf Jahrhunderten, first published 1936
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 110