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by Thomas Campion (1567 - 1620)

Followe thy faire sunne unhappy shaddowe
Language: English 
Followe thy faire sunne unhappy shaddowe
Though thou be blacke as night
And she made all of light,
Yet follow thy faire sunne unhappie shaddowe.

Follow her whose light thy light depriveth,
Though here thou liv'st disgrac't,
And she in heaven is plac't,
Yer lollow her whose light the world reviveth.

Follow those pure beames whose beautie burneth
That so have scorched thee,
As thou still blacke must bee,
Til her kind beames thy black to brightness turneth.

Follow her while yet her glorie shineth:
There comes a luckless night,
That will dim all light,
And this the black unhappie shade devineth.

Follow still since so thy fates ordained,
The sunne must have his shade,
Till both at once do fade,
The sun still [ap]prov'd the shadow still disdained.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Thomas Campion (1567 - 1620) [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 Thomas Campion (1567 - 1620), "Followe thy faire sunne", published 1601, from A Booke of Ayres = A Book of Airs, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
  • by Ty Kroll , "Follow thy fair sun", 2004 [ SSAATBB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
  • by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Follow thy fair sun", op. 213 (1948) [ voice and piano ], from Three Melancholy Songs, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
  • by Virgil Garnett Thomson (1896 - 1989), "Follow thy fair sun", from Four songs to poems of Thomas Campion, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]

Researcher for this page: Linda Godry

This text was added to the website: 2006-05-02
Line count: 20
Word count: 129

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