by Geoffrey Chaucer (c1343 - 1400)
Your eyën two will slay me suddenly
Language: English
Your eyën two will slay me suddenly: I may the beauty of them not sustene, So woundeth it throughout my hertë ken. And but your word will helen hastily My hertës woundë, while that it is green, Your eyën two will slay me suddenly: I may the beauty of them not sustene, Upon my troth I say to you faithfully, That ye be my life and death the queen, For with my death the truthë shall be seen: Your eyën two will slay me suddenly: I may the beauty of them not sustene, So woundeth it throughout my hertë kene.
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Authorship
- by Geoffrey Chaucer (c1343 - 1400), no title, appears in Merciles Beaute: A Triple Roundel, no. 1 [author's text not yet checked 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 Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, Sir (1883 - 1953), "Roundel" [sung text not yet checked]
- by Geoffrey Bush (1920 - 1998), "Merciless Beauty", 1987 [ baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "Your eyën two", 1921 [ soprano or tenor, 2 violins, violoncello ], from Merciless Beauty, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:
- Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Harald Genzmer.
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Researcher for this text: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 13
Word count: 100