by Edward Dyer, Sir (1543 - 1607)
The lowest trees have tops
Language: English
Our translations: ITA
The lowest trees have tops, the ant her gall, The fly her spleen, the little spark his heat, And slender hairs cast shadows though but small, And bees have stings although they be not great. Seas have their source, and so have shallow springs, And love is love in beggars and in kings. Where waters smoothest run, deep are the fords, The dial stirs, yet none perceives it move: The firmest faith is in the fewest words, The turtles cannot sing, and yet they love, True hearts have eyes and ears no tongues to speak: They hear, and see, and sigh, and then they break.
Text Authorship:
- by Edward Dyer, Sir (1543 - 1607) [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), "The lowest trees have tops", published 1603, from the collection The Third and Last Book of Songs or Airs [text verified 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ITA Italian (Italiano) (Ferdinando Albeggiani) , title 1: "Cime hanno gli alberi più bassi", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 105