by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892)
Hapless doom of woman
Language: English
Hapless doom of woman
happy in betrothing,
Beauty passes like a breath
and love is lost in loathing;
Low! my lute:
Speak low, but say the world is nothing.
Low! lute, low!
Love will hover round the flowers
when they first awaken;
Love will fly the fallen leaf,
and not be overtaken;
Low, my lute!
O low, my lute! we fade and are forsaken.
Low, dear lute, low!
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Alfred Tennyson, Lord (1809 - 1892), no title, appears in Queen Mary, Act V, scene 2, first published 1875 [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 Edward Elgar, Sir (1857 - 1934), "Queen Mary's Song", 1892, published 1907, first performed 1897 [ voice and piano ], from Seven Lieder of Edward Elgar, no. 2, note: first published separately in 1892, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Horatio William Parker (1863 - 1919), "Lute-Song", published 1904 [ medium voice and piano ], from Two Songs from Tennyson's "Queen Mary", no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "The Lute Song", op. 6 no. 2 (1875), published 1876 [ voice and piano ], from Two Songs from incidental music to the play Queen Mary, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Ed. Sachs ; composed by Edward Elgar, Sir.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 68