To Musicke bent is my retyred minde,
And faine would I some song of pleasure sing ;
But in vaine ioys no comfort now I finde,
From heau'nly thoughts all true delight doth spring.
Thy power, O God, thy mercies, to record,
Will sweeten eu'ry note and eu'ry word.

All earthly pompe or beauty to expresse,
Is but to carue in snow, on waues to write.
Celestiall things, though men conceiue them lesse,
Yet fullest are they in themselues of light :
Such beames they yeeld as know no meanes to dye,
Such heate they cast as lifts the Spirit high.

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), "To Musicke bent is my retyred minde", published c1613, from Two Bookes of Ayres - The First Booke, no. 7 [sung text checked 1 time]

This text (or a part of it) is used in a work

• by George Dyson (1883 - 1964), "Rise, O my soul", 1945-9, from Quo Vadis: a Cycle of Poems, no. 2
  • Go to the full setting text.
    

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

• GER German (Deutsch) (Richard Flatter) , "Trostlied", appears in Die Fähre, Englische Lyrik aus fünf Jahrhunderten, first published 1936

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2007-11-16
Line count: 12
Word count: 99