Tell me no more
Language: English
Tell me no more her eyes are like Two rising suns that wonder strike, For it 'twere so, how could it be, They should be thus eclipsed by me? Tell me no more her breasts do grow, Like rising hills of melting snow, For if 'twere so, how could they lie So near the sunshine of her eye? Tell me no more the restless spheres, Compared to her voice, frights our ears, For if 'twere so, how then could death Dwell with such discord in her breath? No, say her eyes portenders are Of ruin, or some blazing star, Else I should feel from that fair fire Some heat to cherish my desire. Say that her breasts, though cold as snow, Are hard as marble when I woo, Else they would soften and relent With sighs enflamed from me sent. Say that although like to the moon, She's heavenly fair, yet changed as soon, Else she would constant once remain Either to pity or disdain. That so by one of them I might Be kept alive or murdered quite, For 'tis less cruel thus to kill Where life does but increase the ill.
Text Authorship:
Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):
- by William Lawes (1602 - 1645), "Tell me no more", from the collection Songs from the Autograph Songbook, no. 23. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2015-03-18
Line count: 28
Word count: 193