Take, o take those lips away,
That so sweetly were forsworn;
And those eyes, the break of day,
Lights that do mislead the morn:
But my kisses bring again;
Seals of love, but seal'd in vain, sealed in vain.

Hide, o hide those hills of snow
that thy frozen bosom wears,
On whose tops the pinks that grow
are yet of those that April wears;
But first set my poor heart free,
Bound in those icy chains by thee.

F. Ayres sets stanza 1
R. Quilter sets stanza 1
P. Warlock sets stanza 1 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
W. Fortner sets stanza 1
N. Lee sets stanza 1
H. Gál sets stanza 1
S. Gerber sets stanza 1
J. Kaufer sets stanza 1
W. Jackson sets stanza 1
J. Hall sets stanza 1

About the headline (FAQ)

View text with all available footnotes
Note: quoted by John Fletcher, in Bloody Brother, 1639 and by William Shakespeare, in Measure for Measure, Act IV, scene 1, c1604 (just one stanza)

Text Authorship:

• by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
• sometimes misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by John Alcock Jr. (1740 - 1791), "Take those lips away", published [1775?] [  2-part chorus and continuo ], partsong; London : Falkener [sung text not yet checked]
• by Frank J. Allen , "Take, oh take those lips away!", copyright © 1892 [ voice and piano ], Boston : Stevens [sung text not yet checked]
• by Paul Hastings Allen (1883 - 1952), "Take, o take those lips away", copyright © 1932 [ mixed chorus a cappella? ], Boston : Riker [sung text not yet checked]
• by David Werner Amram (b. 1930), "Take, o take those lips away ", 1986, published 1986 [ voice and piano ], from Four Shakespeare Songs, no. 2, NY : C. F. Peters [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Howard) Orsmond Anderton (1861 - 1934), "Take, o take those lips away ", published [1910?] [ tenor and piano ], from 3 Shakespeare Songs, London : Forsyth [sung text not yet checked]
• by Thomas Anderton (1836 - 1903), "Take, o take those lips away ", [1863?] [ voice and piano? ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Frederic Ayres (1876 - 1926), "Take, o take those lips away", op. 3 (Three Songs) no. 1, published 1906, stanza 1 [ voice and piano ], Newton Center : Wa-Wan [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Joseph W. Baber (b. 1937), "Take, o take", op. 9 no. ? (1953-6) [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Shakespearean Madrigals, Set 3 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Joseph W. Baber (b. 1937), "Take, o take", op. 19 no. ? (1954-64), published 1976 [ high voice and piano ], from Shakespearean Songs, Lexington : Kelley ; one of two settings [sung text not yet checked]
• by Joseph W. Baber (b. 1937), "Take, o take", op. 19 no. ? (1954-64), published 1976 [ high voice and piano ], from Shakespearean Songs, Lexington : Kelley ; note: one of two settings. This setting is an arrangement of one of the madrigals in op. 9 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir (1868 - 1946), "Take, o take", 1934 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir (1868 - 1946), "Take, o take those lips away", 1934 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Augustus Barratt , "Take, o take those lips away", published 1916 [ tenor and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Augustus Barry (flourished c1805), "Take, o take", published [1803?] [ SSB chorus a cappella ], from Three Glees and Two Songs, London : Lavenu & Mitchell [sung text not yet checked]
• by J. Bath , "Take, o take those lips away", 1880? [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (1867 - 1944), "Take, o take those lips away", op. 37 (Three Shakespeare Songs) no. 2, published 1897 [ voice and piano ], Boston : Schmidt [sung text checked 1 time]
• by John Parsons Beach (1877 - 1953), "Take, o take those lips away", published 1906 [ medium voice and piano ], Newton Center : Wa-Wan [sung text not yet checked]
• by Thomas Case Sterndale Bennett (1882 - 1944), "Take, oh take those lips away", published 1909 [ voice and piano ], London : Boosey [sung text not yet checked]
• by Henry Rowley Bishop (1785 - 1855), "Take, o take those lips away", 1819, first performed 1819 [ soprano and orchestra ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Karl Bjorseth , "Madrigal", op. 5 no. ?, published [1894] [ mezzo-soprano or baritone and piano ], from 3 engelske Sange med norsk Oversaettelse, Kristiania : Warmuth [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gaston Borch (1871 - 1926), "Take, oh take those lips away", op. 110 no. 3, published 1907 [ voice and piano ], London, Augener [sung text not yet checked]
• by (William) Havergal Brian (1876 - 1972), "Take, oh take those lips away", 1925 [ voice and piano ], Eastbourne : Musica Viva [sung text not yet checked]
• by (William) Havergal Brian (1876 - 1972), "Take, o take those lips away", 1919, published >>1970 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Ernest) Leslie Bridgewater (1893 - 1975), "Take, o take those lips away", 1956, published 1964 [ voice and piano ], in Stratford Series of Shakespeare Songs, Vol. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Take, o take those lips away", 1926 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Michael Brozen (b. 1934), "Take, o take", 1965, published 1966, first performed 1967 [ vocal duet for soprano and tenor with orchestra ], from Dark Night, Gentle Night, Bryn Mawr : Presser ; both stanzas [sung text not yet checked]
• by Arthur Bransby Burnand (1859 - 1907), as Anton Strelezki, "Take, o take those lips away", published 1896 [ voice and piano ], London : Phillips & Page ; both stanzas [sung text not yet checked]
• by Benjamin Burrows (1891 - 1966), "Take, o take those lips away", 1911 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Three Part Songs for SATB [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Wall Callcott (1766 - 1821), no title, 1786 [ AATTB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Mary Grant Carmichael (1851 - 1935), "Take, o take those lips away", published 1885 [ SA chorus (or vocal duet for soprano and alto) with piano ], from Six Songs for two voices, from Shakespeare (reissued as Six Shakespeare Songs), no. 4, London : J. Curwen & Sons [sung text not yet checked]
• by Benjamin Carr (1769 - 1831), "Take, oh! take those lips away", published [1794] [ voice and piano ], from Four Ballads. Three from Shakespear and one by Harwood [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Wallace Carter (1929 - 1991), "Take, o take those lips away", published 1968 [ SA chorus a cappella ], from Three canzonets on love, canzonet ; NY : Frank [sung text not yet checked]
• by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), "Seals of love", 1922, published 1924 [ high voice and piano ], from Shakespeare Songs, Book IV, no. 2, London : Chester [sung text not yet checked]
• by Thomas Chilcot , "The words by Shakespeare in Measure for Measure", published [1743] [ high voice, 2 violins, viola, and basso continuo ], from Twelve English Songs, London : Johnson [sung text not yet checked]
• by Barney Childs (1926 - 2000), "Take, o take those lips away", 1958 [ soprano, tenor, clarinet, percussion, violin, viola, and piano ], from Septet for Voices (Soprano and Tenor) and Instruments, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Harold Clark , "Madrigal", published 1949 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], London : Elkin [sung text not yet checked]
• by Rebecca Clarke (1886 - 1979), "Take, o take those lips away", 1926? [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Matthew Francis Coates , "Take, o take those lips away ", c1885 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Robert Convery , "Take, o take those lips away", 1982, published 1985, rev. 1983 [ SATB chorus a cappella (originally, SSA chorus a cappella) ], from Five Madrigals, New York : Boosey [sung text not yet checked]
• by John H. Corina (1928 - 2014), "Take, o take those lips away ", 1975, first performed 1976 [ tenor or soprano and piano ], from Three Shakespeare Madrigals [sung text not yet checked]
• by Claude E. Cover , "Take, o take those lips away", published [1895] [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Two Part Songs, Leeds : Spark [sung text not yet checked]
• by James Munro Coward (1824 - 1880), "Take, oh take those lips away ", published [1872] [ soprano or tenor and piano ], two stanzas ; London : Cock [sung text not yet checked]
• by Frederic Hymen Cowen, Sir (1852 - 1935), "Take, oh take those lips away ", published 1884, first performed 1884 [ medium voice and piano ], Manchester : George Falkner & Sons [sung text not yet checked]
• by Louis Crerar , "Take, o take those lips away", 1953 [ high voice and piano ], from Four Shakespeare Songs [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gordon Conrad Cyr (1925 - 2007), "Take, o take those lips away (Seals of love)", 1961-2, first performed 1963 [ high voice and chamber orchestra ], from Three Shakespeare Songs [sung text not yet checked]
• by Martin Dalby (b. 1942), "Take, o take those lips away", published 1968 [ medium voice and piano ], from A Muse of Love: Five Elizabethan Love Lyrics, London : Boosey [sung text not yet checked]
• by Edward Dearle , "Take oh! Take", <<1822 [ high voice and piano ], from Six Songs, London : Cramer, Addison & Beale [sung text not yet checked]
• by Matthew Dewey (b. 1984), "Take, o take those lips away", 2013, first performed 2013 [ baritone and piano ], from Four Shakespeare Songs, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927), "Take, o take those lips away ", 1960, published 1962, first performed 1960 [ SATB chorus and piano ], from Three Madrigals, NY : Boosey [sung text not yet checked]
• by Bernard van Dieren (1887 - 1936), "Take, o take those lips away", published 1925 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Christopher Dixon , "A song", published [1760?] [ soprano, 2 violins, and continuo ], from Two English Cantatas and Four Songs, both stanzas ; London : Waylett [sung text not yet checked]
• by Madeleine Dring (1923 - 1977), "Take, o take those lips away", c1950 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Lewis Byron Duke , "Take, o take those lips away ", [1960] [ voice and piano? ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Chester Duncan (1913 - 2002), "Measure for measure", 1967 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Edmunds (1913 - 1986), "Take, o take those lips away", 1934, published 1975, first performed 1936 [ high voice and piano ], Georgetown : Dragon's Teeth [sung text not yet checked]
• by Garth Edmundson (1895 - ?), "Take, oh take those lips away ", published 1943, copyright © 1942 [ medium voice and piano ], Boston : Ditson [sung text not yet checked]
• by Leo Edwards , "Seals of love", c1966, first performed 1966 [ soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Paul Edwards , "Take, o take those lips away ", 1979 [ soprano or tenor and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by William Faulkes , "Take, o take those lips away ", op. 204 no. 7 (1920) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Richard J. Felciano (b. 1930), "Take, o take those lips away", 1954-5, published 1973, first performed 1955 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Three Madrigals from Wm Shakespeare, Boston : E. C. Schirmer [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Fiske , "Take, oh take those lips away ", copyright © 1873 [ voice and piano ], Boston : Russell [sung text not yet checked]
• by James Hampton Fithian , "Take, o take those lips away ", published 1927 [ medium voice and piano ], NY : G. Schirmer [sung text not yet checked]
• by Stanley Fletcher , "Take, oh take those lips away", 1950, first performed 1950 [ baritone and piano ], from A Shakespeare Triad [sung text not yet checked]
• by Wolfgang Fortner (1907 - 1987), "Take, o take those lips away ", 1946, published 1947, stanza 1 [ voice and piano ], from Songs nach Texten von William Shakespeare mit Klavierbegleitung , no. 7, Mainz : Schott, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Hans Gál (1890 - 1987), "Madrigal", first performed 1967, stanza 1 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Six Part-Songs [formerly: Four Part-Songs], no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Frederica Elvira Gambogi (? - 1940), "Take, o take those lips away", published 1894 [ voice and piano ], from Two Songs, London : Cocks [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Linton Gardner (1917 - 2011), "Take, o take those lips away ", op. 66 no. 5 (1964), published 1966 [ women's chorus, piano duet, and optional percussion ], from A Shakespeare Sequence, no. 5, London : Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Linton Gardner (1917 - 2011), no title, 1936, first performed 1936 [ baritone and piano ], from A Suite of 5 Songs from Palgrave's Golden Treasury [sung text not yet checked]
• by Steven R. Gerber (b. 1948), "Song", 1988, stanza 1 [ medium voice and piano ], from Six Songs of William Shakespeare, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890 - 1937), "Take, o take those lips away", 1920 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Juliana Hall (b. 1958), "Take, o take those lips away", 2015, first performed 2016, stanza 1 [ counter-tenor and piano ], from O Mistress Mine -- 12 Songs for countertenor and piano on texts from plays by William Shakespeare, no. 7 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Ashley Heenan (1925 - 2004), "Take, o take those lips away ", 1956 [ alto, SATB chorus, and string orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by William Jackson (1730 - 1803), "Take, oh! take those lips away", published [1797], stanza 1 [ vocal duet for 2 voices and continuo ], from Twelve canzonets, for two voices, no. 7, London, Harrison [sung text checked 1 time]
• by John Jeffreys (1927 - 2010), "Take, o take those lips away", 1980, published 1983 [ voice and piano ], in the collection Book of Songs ; Wendover : Roberton [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Jeffreys (1927 - 2010), "Seals of love" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Joseph Kaufer (1909 - 1990), "Take o take those lips away", published 1951, stanza 1 [ voice and piano ], from Dover Beach and Other Songs, no. 3, Waukegan, Illinois: Lyric-Art [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Noël Lee (1924 - 2013), "Take, o take those lips away", 1982, stanza 1 [ tenor, clarinet, violoncello, and vibraphone ], from Three Songs from Shakespeare, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Elizabeth Maconchy (1907 - 1994), "O take those lips away", 1965, first performed 1966 [ voice and piano ], from Four Shakespeare Songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Robert Matthew-Walker (b. 1939), "Take, O take those lips away ", op. 40 no. 2 (1980) [ soprano and piano ], from Music to Hear (five Elizabethan Songs for soprano and piano), no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir (1848 - 1918), "Take, o take those lips away", 1881-5, published [1886], first performed 1881 [ high voice and piano ], from English Lyrics, Second Set, no. 2, London : Stanley Lucas [sung text not yet checked]
• by Thomas Pasatieri (b. 1945), "At the moated grange", 2003 [ voice and piano ], from A rustling of angels, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Robert Lucas Pearsall (1795 - 1856), "Take, O take those lips away", op. 6, published 1830 [  SATTB chorus a cappella ], madrigal [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Mary Plumstead (1905 - 1980), "Take, o take those lips away", published 1956 [ voice and piano ], London : Curwen ; reissued Wendover : Roberton c1976 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "Take, o take those lips away", op. 23 no. 4 (1921), published 1921, stanza 1 [ voice and piano ; voice and piano quartet ; or voice, harp, and strings ], from Five Shakespeare Songs (Second Set), no. 4, London : Boosey [sung text checked 1 time]
• by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Take, o Take", op. 199 (1948) [ voice and piano ], from Three Songs of Sadness, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Take, O Take", op. 373 (1952) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Take, O Take Those Lips Away", op. 517 (1958) [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hendrik de Regt (b. 1950), "Take those lips away", op. 66 no. ? (1978), published 1980 [  TTBB chorus a cappella ], from three madrigals for male choir, madrigal; Amsterdam : Donemus [sung text not yet checked]
• by Edmund Duncan Rubbra (1901 - 1986), "Take, o take those lips away", op. 22 (Two Songs) no. 1 (1928), published 1929 [ voice and piano ], London : Curwen ; reissued 1971 South Croyden : Lengnick [sung text not yet checked]
• by Andrew Schneider (b. 1991), "Take, O Take Those Lips Away", 2007 [ ssa chorus a cappella ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Arthur Somervell, Sir (1863 - 1937), "Take, o take those lips away", published 1898 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Virgil Garnett Thomson (1896 - 1989), "Take, o take those lips away", 1956/7, published 1961 [ tenor and piano ], from Five Shakespeare Songs, no. 2, NY : Southern [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "Take, O take", 1925, published 1926, first performed 1925 [ voice and piano ], from 3 Songs from Shakespeare, no. 1, London : Oxford [sung text not yet checked]
• by Peter Warlock (1894 - 1930), "Take, o take those lips away", 1918, published 1919, stanza 1 [ high voice and string quartet ], London : Winthrop Rogers ; one of three settings [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Peter Warlock (1894 - 1930), "Take, o take those lips away", 1916-1917, published 1923 [ voice and piano ], from Saudades, no. 2, London : Chester ; one of three settings [sung text not yet checked]
• by Joel Weiss , "Take, o take those lips away ", 1994 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Wilson (1595 - 1674), "Take, o take those lips away", published 1652 [ high voice, theorbo or bass viol ], from Select Musicall Ayres, and Dialogues, For one and two Voyces, to sing to the Theorbo, Lute, or Basse Violl, London : Playford ; both stanzas [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in Dutch (Nederlands), a translation by Emmanuel Hiel (1834 - 1899) , "Trek de lippen vol venijn", appears in Gedichten, in Twaalf liederen van Shakespere, no. 7, first published 1868 ; composed by Petrus Leonardus Leopoldus "Peter" Benoit.
  • Go to the text.
    
• Also set in French (Français), a translation by Maurice Bouchor (1855 - 1929) , "Chanson d'amour", first published 1896 ; composed by Mel Bonis.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    
• Also set in French (Français), adapted by Maurice Bouchor (1855 - 1929) [an adaptation] ; composed by Ernest Amédée Chausson.
  • Go to the text.
    
• Also set in French (Français), a translation by Jean-François-Victor Aicard (1848 - 1921) [an adaptation] ; composed by Jules Massenet.
  • Go to the text.
    
• Also set in French (Français), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Henri-Pierre Poupard, as Henri Sauguet.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    
• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767 - 1845) ; composed by Wilhelm Killmayer, Arnold Mendelssohn, Wilhelm Petersen.
  • Go to the text.
    
• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , from Herder's Volksliedern ; composed by Otto Claudius, Karl Sigmund Freiherr von Seckendorff.
  • Go to the text.
    
• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Karl Georg Mantey ; composed by Wolfgang Fortner.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    
• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Alfons Graff.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    
• Also set in Polish (Polski), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Jan Karol Gall.
  • Go to the text. [Note: the text is not in the database yet.]
    

Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (L. A. J. Burgersdijk)
• FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Paavo Cajander)
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GER German (Deutsch) (Sarah L. Weller) , "Nimm, so nimm doch Deine Lippen fort", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• POL Polish (Polski) (Jan Kasprowicz) , "Śpiew Pacholęcia", Warsaw, first published 1907

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-04
Line count: 12
Word count: 79