by William Blake (1757 - 1827)
Why should I be bound to thee
Language: English
Why should I be bound to thee, O my lovely Myrtle-tree? Love, free Love, cannot be bound To any tree that grows on ground. O! how sick and weary I Underneath my Myrtle lie; Like to dung upon the ground, Underneath my Myrtle bound. Oft my Myrtle sigh'd in vain To behold my heavy chain: Oft my Father saw us sigh, And laugh'd at our simplicity. So I smote him, and his gore Stain'd the roots my Myrtle bore. But the time of youth is fled, And grey hairs are on my head.
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by William Blake (1757 - 1827) [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 Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir (1868 - 1946), "In a myrtle shade", 1907, published 1909, from Three Blake Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by William Henry Bell (1873 - 1946), "In a myrtle shade", 1940, from Twelve Blake Songs, no. 9 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Nigel Henry Butterley (1935 - 2022), "To my myrtle tree", op. 2 no. 2 (1956), from Six Blake Songs, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Fritz Bennicke Hart (1874 - 1949), "In a myrtle shade", op. 9 (Seven songs) no. 5 (1912) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Zoltán Jeney (b. 1943), "In a mirtle shade", subtitle: "Adrian Leverkühn's song", 1975-83, published c1985 [ female voice, violin, and piano ], from Twelve Songs, no. 7, Budapest, Edition Musica Budapest [sung text not yet checked]
- by Tõnu Kalam , "To my myrtle", 1966-7, first performed 1967 [ soprano and piano ], from A Garden of Experience, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 93