possibly by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)
On a day, alack the day!
Language: English
On a day, alack the day! Love, whose month was ever May, Spied a blossom passing fair Playing in the wanton air: Through the velvet leaves the wind, All unseen, 'gan passage find; That the lover, sick to death, Wish'd himself the heaven's breath. "Air", quoth he, "thy cheeks may blow; Air, would I might triumph so! But, alas my hand hath sworn Ne'er to pluck thee from thy thorn: Vow, alack, for youth unmeet; Youth so apt to pluck a sweet. Thou for whom Jove would swear Juno but an Ethiope were, And deny himself for Jove, Turning mortal for thy love."
About the headline (FAQ)
Authorship
- possibly by William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616), no title, appears in Sonnets to sundry notes of music, no. 2, appears in The Passionate Pilgrim, no. 16, first published 1599 [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 Daniel Ruyneman (1886 - 1963), "On a day, alack the day", 1949 [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
Set in a modified version by Thomas Chilcot, Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- FRE French (Français) (François-Victor Hugo)
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-06-09
Line count: 18
Word count: 103