If thou [wilt]1 ease thine heart
Of love and all its smart,
   Then sleep, dear, sleep;
And not a sorrow
   Hang any tear on your eyelashes;
   Lie still and [deep,]2
   Sad soul, until the sea-wave washes
The rim o' th' sun tomorrow,
   In eastern sky.

But [wilt]1 thou cure thine heart
Of love and all its smart,
   Then die, dear, die;
'Tis deeper, sweeter,
   Than on a rose bank to lie dreaming
   [With folded eye;]3
   And then alone, amid the beaming
Of love's stars, thou'lt meet her
   In eastern sky.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Parry: "would'st"
² Britten: "deep,/ With folded eye;" (moved from the second stanza)
³ Parry: "With tranced eye"; omitted by Britten (moved to the first stanza)

Text Authorship:

• by Thomas Lovell Beddoes (1803 - 1849), no title, appears in Death's Jest Book or The Fool's Tragedy, first published 1850 [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 Alfred H. Allen , "Wolfram's dirge", published [1924?] [ SSAATB chorus a cappella ], London : Stainer & Bell [sung text not yet checked]
• by Denis ApIvor (1916 - 2004), "The heart's ease", 1954, first performed 1954 [ high voice and piano ], from Songs of Thomas Lovell Beddoes [sung text not yet checked]
• by Jack Hamilton Beeson (b. 1921), "Song", 1952, rev. 1959, 1995, first performed 1958 [ high voice and piano ], from Six Lyrics, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gordon Ware Binkerd (1916 - 2003), "If thou wilt ease thine heart", published 1971 [ low voice, piano ], Oceanside : Boosey & Hawkes [sung text not yet checked]
• by Ethel Mary Boyce (1863 - 1936), "Dirge", published 1922 [ TTBB chorus a cappella ], London : Novello [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "If thou wilt ease thine heart", subtitle: "Dirge for Wolfram" [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Mervyn Burtch (b. 1929), "If thou wilt ease thine heart ", 1966, first performed 1968 [ soprano and piano ], from Three Poems of T. L. Beddoes [sung text not yet checked]
• by William Busch (1901 - 1945), "If thou wilt ease thine heart ", published 1944 [ voice and piano ], London : Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
• by Stephen Dodgson (b. 1924), "Dirge", first performed 1957 [ high voice and piano ], from Three Songs to Words by T. L. Beddoes [sung text not yet checked]
• by Katharine Emily Eggar (1874 - 1961), "Wolfram's Dirge", published <<1911, London : Avison [sung text not yet checked]
• by Brian Holmes (b. 1946), "Dirge (If thou wilt ease thine heart)" [ high voice, string quartet ], from Death's Jest-Book, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Samuel Ernest Lovatt (1877 - 1954), "If thou wilt ease thine heart of love", published 1923 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], London : Bayley & Ferguson [sung text not yet checked]
• by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir (1848 - 1918), "If thou would'st ease thine heart", 1895, published 1895 [ voice and piano ], from English Lyrics, Third Set, no. 2, London : Novello [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "If thou would'st ease thine heart" [ voice and piano ], lost [sung text not yet checked]
• by Henry Beaumont Walmisley (flourished 1855), "Then sleep, dear, sleep", published [BL 1853] [ voice and piano ], from Six Songs, London : Duff & Hodgson [sung text not yet checked]

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

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission

Researcher for this page: Ted Perry

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 18
Word count: 94