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by Edmund Spenser (1552 - 1599)

Sweet is the Rose, but growes vpon a...
Language: English 
Sweet is the Rose, but growes vpon a brere;
Sweet is the Iunipere, but sharpe his bough;
sweet is the Eglantine, but pricketh nere;
sweet is the firbloome, but his braunches rough.
Sweet is the Cypresse, but his rynd is tough,
sweet is the nut, but bitter is his pill;
sweet is the broome-flowre, but yet sowre enough;
and sweet is Moly, but his root is ill.
So euery sweet with soure is tempred still,
that maketh it be coueted the more:
for easie things that may be got at will,
most sorts of men doe set but little store.
Why then should I accoumpt of little paine,
that endlesse pleasure shall vnto me gaine.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

  • by Edmund Spenser (1552 - 1599), "Sonnet XXVI", appears in Amoretti and Epithalamion [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 Marc Blitzstein (1905 - 1964), "Sweet is the rose", published 1958 [ low voice, piano ], from Six Elizabethan Songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2006-11-24
Line count: 14
Word count: 115

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