by William Congreve (1670 - 1729)
A nymph and a swain to Apollo once...
Language: English
A nymph and a swain to Apollo once prayed, The swain had been jilted, the nymph been betrayed: Their intent was to try if his oracle knew E'er a nymph that was chaste, or a swain that was true. Apollo was mute, and had like t'have been [posed]1, But sagely at length he this secret disclosed: "He alone won't betray in whom none will confide: And the nymph may be chaste that has never been tried."
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with The Best Plays of the Old Dramatists. William Congreve., Unexpurgated Edition, London : Vizetelly & Co., 1888, page 245.
1 Eccles: "pos'd"Text Authorship:
- by William Congreve (1670 - 1729), "Song", appears in Love for Love, Act II, Scene 3 [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 John Eccles (1668 - 1735), "A nymph and a swain", from the a play - incidental music Love for Love [ sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 8
Word count: 76