Thou hast made me | Thou hast made me, and shall thy work decay?

by John Donne (1572 - 1631)

Thou hast made me, and shall thy work...

Language: English

Our translations: FRE GER

Thou hast made me, and shall thy work decay?
Repaire me now, for now mine end doth haste,
I runne to death, and death meets me as fast,
And all my pleasures are like yesterday;
I dare not move my dim eyes anyway,
Despaire behind, and death before doth cast
Such terror, and my feeble flesh doth waste
By sinne in it, which it t'wards Hell doth weigh;
Onely thou art above, and when t'wards thee
By thy leave I can looke, I rise againe;
But our old subtle foe so tempteth me,
That not one houre myselfe can I sustaine;
Thy Grace may wing me to prevent his art,
And thou like Adamant draw mine iron heart.

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by John Donne (1572 - 1631), no title, appears in Holy Sonnets, no. 1 [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 Lennox Randal Francis Berkeley, Sir (1903 - 1989), "Thou hast made me", published 1960 [ mixed chorus and organ ] [sung text not yet checked]
by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Thou hast made me", op. 35 no. 8 (1945), published 1946 [ high voice and piano ], from The Holy Sonnets of John Donne, no. 8 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Geoffrey Burgon (b. 1941), "Thou hast made me", 2001? [ voice and piano ], from Heavenly Things, no. 6 [sung text not yet checked]
by Juliana Hall (b. 1958), "Thou hast made me", 2013, first performed 2014 [ tenor and piano ], from The Holy Sonnets of John Donne - 9 Songs for Tenor and Piano, no. 8 [sung text checked 1 time]
by Douglas Stuart Moore (1893 - 1969), "Thou hast made me", published 1944 [ high voice and piano ], from Three Sonnets of John Donne Set to Music [sung text not yet checked]
by Godfrey Ridout (1918 - 1984), "Thou hast made me", 1953 [ voice and piano ], from Cantiones mysticae, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
by William Brocklesby Wordsworth (1908 - 1988), "Thou hast made me", 1944, published 1946, from Four Sacred Sonnets [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 14
Word count: 118