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by Anonymous / Unidentified Author

Now cease my wand'ring eyes
Language: English 
Now cease my wand'ring eyes,
Strange beauties to admire,
In change least comfort lies,
Long joys yield long desire.

One faith one love,
Makes our frail pleasures eternal, and in sweetness prove,
New hopes new joys,
Are still with sorrow declining unto deep annoys.

One man hath but one soul,
Which art cannot divide,
If all one soul must love,
Two loves must be denied.

One soul, one love,
By faith and merit united cannot remove,
Distracted sprites
Are everchanging and hapless in their delights.

Nature two eyes hath giv'n,
All beauty to import,
As well in earth as heav'n,
But she hath giv'n one heart.

That though we see
Ten thousand beauties, yet in us, in us one should be,
One steadfast love,
Because our hearts stand fix'd although our eyes do move.

Text Authorship:

  • by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [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 John Dowland (1562 - 1626), "Now cease my wand'ring eyes" [
     text verified 1 time
    ]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 134

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