by John Berkenhead, Sir (c1617 - 1679)
No Reprieve
Language: English
Now, now Lucasia, now make haste, If thou wilt see how strong thou art, There needs but one frown more, to waste The whole remainder of my heart. Alas undone, to Fate, I bow my head, Ready to die, now die, and now, am dead. You looke to have an age of triall ere you a Lover will repay, but my state brooks no more deniall: I cannot this one minute stay. Alas undone, to Fate, I bow my head, Ready to die, now die, and now, am dead. Look in my wound, and see how cold, How pale and gasping my soule lyes, which nature strives in vaine to hold, Whil'st wing'd with sighes a way it flies. Alas undone, to Fate, I bow my head, Ready to die, now die, and now, am dead. See, see, already Charons boat, Who grimly asks why all this stay? Harke how the fatall Sisters shout, And now they call, away, a way. Alas undone, to Fate, I bow my head, Ready to die, now die, and now, am dead.
Authorship:
- by John Berkenhead, Sir (c1617 - 1679) [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 Henry Lawes (c1595 - 1662), "No Reprieve", published 1655 [ voice and continuo ], from The Second Book of Ayres, and Dialogues, no. 2, Confirmed with The Second Book of Ayres and Dialogues, for One, Two, and Three, by Henry Lawes , John Playford, London 1655, Page 3. [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Iain Sneddon [Guest Editor]
This text was added to the website: 2021-12-27
Line count: 24
Word count: 178