by John Dryden (1631 - 1700)
Young I am and yet unskilled
Language: English
Young I am and yet unskilled How to make a lover yield, How to keep, [or]1 how to gain, When to love, and when to feign. Take me, take me, some of you, While I yet am young and true; [Ere I can my soul disguise, Heave my breasts, and roll my eyes. Stay not till I learn the way, How to lie, and to betray; He that has me first, is blest, For I may deceive the rest. Could I find a blooming youth, Full of love and full of truth, Brisk, and of a jaunty mien, I should long to be fifteen.]2
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View original text (without footnotes)1 Hook: "and"
2 Hook:
Stay not till I learn the way How to fib and how betray, E'er I can my thoughts disguise, Force a blush or roll my eyes. Take me, take me, some of you, While I yet am young and true. Could I find a blooming youth, Full of love and full of truth, Of honest mind and noble mien, I should long to be sixteen. Take me, take me, some of you, While I yet am young and true.
Text Authorship:
- by John Dryden (1631 - 1700), "Song for a girl" [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 James Hook (1746 - 1827), "Take me, take me, some of you" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Ned Rorem (1923 - 2022), "Song for a girl", from Six Songs for High Voice, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 16
Word count: 106