by Ben Jonson (1572 - 1637)
Wedding chorus
Language: English
Available translation(s): DUT
See the chariot at hand here of love Wherein my lady rideth. Each that draws is a swan or a dove, And well the car Love guideth; As she goes all hearts do duty Unto her beauty; And enamoured do wish, so they might But enjoy such a sight, That they still were to run by her side Through swords, through seas whither she would ride. Do but look on her eyes, They do light all that Love's world compriseth. Do but look on her hair, It is bright as Love's star when it riseth. Do but mark, her forehead's smoother Than words that soothe her; And from her arched brows such a grace Sheds itself through the face, As alone there triumphs to the life, All the gain, all the good of the elements' strife. Have you seen but a bright lily grow Before rude hands have touched it? Have you marked but the fall of the snow Before the soil hath smutched it? Have you felt the wool of the beaver Or swan's down ever? Or have smelt of the bud of the brier Or the nard in the fire? Or have tasted the bag of the bee? O so white, O so soft, O so sweet is she!
Authorship:
- by Ben Jonson (1572 - 1637) [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 Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "Wedding chorus" [SATB chorus], from the cantata In Windsor Forest, no. 4. [text verified 1 time]
Available translations, adaptations, and transliterations (if applicable):
- DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (Pauline Kroger) , title 1: "Bruiloftskoor", copyright © 2009, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
Researcher for this page: Pauline Kroger
This text was added to the website: 2009-11-16
Line count: 30
Word count: 211