by Thomas Nashe (1567 - 1601)
Would I could bark the sun out of the...
Language: English
Would I could bark the sun out of the sky; Turn Moon and stars to frozen Meteors; And make the Ocean a dry land of Ice; With tempest of my breath turn up high trees; On mountains heap up second mounts of snow, Which, melted into water, might fall down, As fell the deluge on the former world. I hate the air, the fire, the Spring, the year, And whatsoe'er brings mankind any good. O that my looks were lightning to blast fruits! ... Would I with thunder presently might die, So I might speak in thunder, to slay men. Earth, if I cannot injure thee enough, I'll bite thee with my teeth, I'll scratch thee thus; I'll beat down the partition with my heels, Which, as a mud-vault, severs hell and thee. Spirits, come up; 'tis I that knock for you, One that envies the world far more than you; Come up in millions; millions are too few To execute the malice I intend.
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Text Authorship:
- by Thomas Nashe (1567 - 1601), no title, appears in Summer's Last Will and Testament [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 David Rowland (b. 1939), "Would I could bark the sun", 1981, from Nashe Songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-02-08
Line count: 20
Word count: 164