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by Edmund Spenser (1552 - 1599)

The rolling wheele
Language: English 
The rolling wheele that runneth often round,
The hardest steel in tract of time doth teare:
And drizzling drops that often doe redound,
The firmest flint doth in continuance weare: 
Yet cannot I, with many a dropping teare,
And long intreatie, soften her hard hart, 
That she will once vouchsafe my plaint to heare,
Or look with pitty on my painefull Smart.
But when I plead, she bids me play my part, 
And when I weepe, she sayes. Teares are but water:
And when I sigh, she sayes, I knowe the art, 
And when I waile, she turnes herselfe to laughter.
  But when I plead . . .

So doe I weepe and waile, and plead in vaine, 
Whiles she as steele and flint doth still remaine.

Text Authorship:

  • by Edmund Spenser (1552 - 1599), Sonnet XIII.  [author's text not yet checked 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 Maurice Greene (1696 - 1755), "The rolling wheele", subtitle: "Sonnet V" [
     text verified 1 time
    ]

Researcher for this page: John Versmoren

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 15
Word count: 127

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