possibly by Thomas, Lord Vaux (1509 - 1556) and possibly by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517 - 1547)
Brittle beauty that nature made so frail
Language: English
Brittle beauty that nature made so frail, Whereof the gift is small, and short the season, Flow’ring to-day, to-morrow apt to fail, Tickle treasure, abhorrèd of reason; Dangerous to deal with, vain, of none avail, Costly in keeping, past not worth two peason, Slipper in sliding, as in an eelës tail, Hard to obtain, once gotten, not geason; Jewel of jeopardy that peril doth assail, False and untrue, enticèd oft to treason, Enemy to youth; that most may I bewail. Ah, bitter sweet, infecting as the poison, Thou fairest as fruit that with the frost is taken, To-day ready ripe, to-morrow all to-shaken.
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with Songes and Sonettes, London: Tottel, 1557. Attributed to Surrey; however, the British Library attributes the poem to Lord Vaux.
Glossary:
tickle = delicate
peason = peas
geason = rare
Text Authorship:
- possibly by Thomas, Lord Vaux (1509 - 1556), "The Frailty and Hurtfulness of Beauty", first published 1557 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]
- possibly by Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (1517 - 1547), "The Frailty and Hurtfulness of Beauty", first published 1557 [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 Imogen Clare Holst (1907 - 1984), "Brittle Beauty", 1944 [ soprano and piano ], from Four Songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2022-06-15
Line count: 14
Word count: 103