Take, o take those lips away,
That so sweetly [were]1 forsworn;
And those eyes, the break of day,
Lights [that]2 do mislead the morn:
But my kisses bring again;
Seals of love, [but]3 seal'd in vain, sealed in vain.

Hide, o hide those hills of snow
that thy frozen bosom wears,
On whose tops the pinks that grow
are yet of those that April wears;
But first set my poor heart free,
Bound in those icy chains by thee.

F. Ayres sets stanza 1
R. Quilter sets stanza 1
P. Warlock sets stanza 1 in (at least) one setting - see below for more information
W. Fortner sets stanza 1
N. Lee sets stanza 1
H. Gál sets stanza 1
S. Gerber sets stanza 1
J. Kaufer sets stanza 1
W. Jackson sets stanza 1
J. Hall sets stanza 1

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
Note: quoted by John Fletcher, in Bloody Brother, 1639 and by William Shakespeare, in Measure for Measure, Act IV, scene 1, c1604 (just one stanza)
¹ Bishop: "are"
² Bishop: "which"
³ Bishop: "tho'"

Text Authorship:

• by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
• sometimes misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616)

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 Alcock Jr. (1740 - 1791), "Take those lips away", published [1775?] [  2-part chorus and continuo ], partsong; London : Falkener [sung text not yet checked]
• by Frank J. Allen , "Take, oh take those lips away!", copyright © 1892 [ voice and piano ], Boston : Stevens [sung text not yet checked]
• by Paul Hastings Allen (1883 - 1952), "Take, o take those lips away", copyright © 1932 [ mixed chorus a cappella? ], Boston : Riker [sung text not yet checked]
• by David Werner Amram (b. 1930), "Take, o take those lips away ", 1986, published 1986 [ voice and piano ], from Four Shakespeare Songs, no. 2, NY : C. F. Peters [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Howard) Orsmond Anderton (1861 - 1934), "Take, o take those lips away ", published [1910?] [ tenor and piano ], from 3 Shakespeare Songs, London : Forsyth [sung text not yet checked]
• by Thomas Anderton (1836 - 1903), "Take, o take those lips away ", [1863?] [ voice and piano? ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Frederic Ayres (1876 - 1926), "Take, o take those lips away", op. 3 (Three Songs) no. 1, published 1906, stanza 1 [ voice and piano ], Newton Center : Wa-Wan [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Joseph W. Baber (b. 1937), "Take, o take", op. 9 no. ? (1953-6) [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Shakespearean Madrigals, Set 3 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Joseph W. Baber (b. 1937), "Take, o take", op. 19 no. ? (1954-64), published 1976 [ high voice and piano ], from Shakespearean Songs, Lexington : Kelley ; one of two settings [sung text not yet checked]
• by Joseph W. Baber (b. 1937), "Take, o take", op. 19 no. ? (1954-64), published 1976 [ high voice and piano ], from Shakespearean Songs, Lexington : Kelley ; note: one of two settings. This setting is an arrangement of one of the madrigals in op. 9 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir (1868 - 1946), "Take, o take", 1934 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Granville Ransome Bantock, Sir (1868 - 1946), "Take, o take those lips away", 1934 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Augustus Barratt , "Take, o take those lips away", published 1916 [ tenor and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Augustus Barry (flourished c1805), "Take, o take", published [1803?] [ SSB chorus a cappella ], from Three Glees and Two Songs, London : Lavenu & Mitchell [sung text not yet checked]
• by J. Bath , "Take, o take those lips away", 1880? [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (1867 - 1944), "Take, o take those lips away", op. 37 (Three Shakespeare Songs) no. 2, published 1897 [ voice and piano ], Boston : Schmidt [sung text checked 1 time]
• by John Parsons Beach (1877 - 1953), "Take, o take those lips away", published 1906 [ medium voice and piano ], Newton Center : Wa-Wan [sung text not yet checked]
• by Thomas Case Sterndale Bennett (1882 - 1944), "Take, oh take those lips away", published 1909 [ voice and piano ], London : Boosey [sung text not yet checked]
• by Henry Rowley Bishop (1785 - 1855), "Take, o take those lips away", 1819, first performed 1819 [ soprano and orchestra ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Karl Bjorseth , "Madrigal", op. 5 no. ?, published [1894] [ mezzo-soprano or baritone and piano ], from 3 engelske Sange med norsk Oversaettelse, Kristiania : Warmuth [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gaston Borch (1871 - 1926), "Take, oh take those lips away", op. 110 no. 3, published 1907 [ voice and piano ], London, Augener [sung text not yet checked]
• by (William) Havergal Brian (1876 - 1972), "Take, oh take those lips away", 1925 [ voice and piano ], Eastbourne : Musica Viva [sung text not yet checked]
• by (William) Havergal Brian (1876 - 1972), "Take, o take those lips away", 1919, published >>1970 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Ernest) Leslie Bridgewater (1893 - 1975), "Take, o take those lips away", 1956, published 1964 [ voice and piano ], in Stratford Series of Shakespeare Songs, Vol. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by (Edward) Benjamin Britten (1913 - 1976), "Take, o take those lips away", 1926 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Michael Brozen (b. 1934), "Take, o take", 1965, published 1966, first performed 1967 [ vocal duet for soprano and tenor with orchestra ], from Dark Night, Gentle Night, Bryn Mawr : Presser ; both stanzas [sung text not yet checked]
• by Arthur Bransby Burnand (1859 - 1907), as Anton Strelezki, "Take, o take those lips away", published 1896 [ voice and piano ], London : Phillips & Page ; both stanzas [sung text not yet checked]
• by Benjamin Burrows (1891 - 1966), "Take, o take those lips away", 1911 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Three Part Songs for SATB [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Wall Callcott (1766 - 1821), no title, 1786 [ AATTB chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Mary Grant Carmichael (1851 - 1935), "Take, o take those lips away", published 1885 [ SA chorus (or vocal duet for soprano and alto) with piano ], from Six Songs for two voices, from Shakespeare (reissued as Six Shakespeare Songs), no. 4, London : J. Curwen & Sons [sung text not yet checked]
• by Benjamin Carr (1769 - 1831), "Take, oh! take those lips away", published [1794] [ voice and piano ], from Four Ballads. Three from Shakespear and one by Harwood [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Wallace Carter (1929 - 1991), "Take, o take those lips away", published 1968 [ SA chorus a cappella ], from Three canzonets on love, canzonet ; NY : Frank [sung text not yet checked]
• by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895 - 1968), "Seals of love", 1922, published 1924 [ high voice and piano ], from Shakespeare Songs, Book IV, no. 2, London : Chester [sung text not yet checked]
• by Thomas Chilcot , "The words by Shakespeare in Measure for Measure", published [1743] [ high voice, 2 violins, viola, and basso continuo ], from Twelve English Songs, London : Johnson [sung text not yet checked]
• by Barney Childs (1926 - 2000), "Take, o take those lips away", 1958 [ soprano, tenor, clarinet, percussion, violin, viola, and piano ], from Septet for Voices (Soprano and Tenor) and Instruments, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Harold Clark , "Madrigal", published 1949 [ soprano or tenor and piano ], London : Elkin [sung text not yet checked]
• by Rebecca Clarke (1886 - 1979), "Take, o take those lips away", 1926? [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Matthew Francis Coates , "Take, o take those lips away ", c1885 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Robert Convery , "Take, o take those lips away", 1982, published 1985, rev. 1983 [ SATB chorus a cappella (originally, SSA chorus a cappella) ], from Five Madrigals, New York : Boosey [sung text not yet checked]
• by John H. Corina (1928 - 2014), "Take, o take those lips away ", 1975, first performed 1976 [ tenor or soprano and piano ], from Three Shakespeare Madrigals [sung text not yet checked]
• by Claude E. Cover , "Take, o take those lips away", published [1895] [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Two Part Songs, Leeds : Spark [sung text not yet checked]
• by James Munro Coward (1824 - 1880), "Take, oh take those lips away ", published [1872] [ soprano or tenor and piano ], two stanzas ; London : Cock [sung text not yet checked]
• by Frederic Hymen Cowen, Sir (1852 - 1935), "Take, oh take those lips away ", published 1884, first performed 1884 [ medium voice and piano ], Manchester : George Falkner & Sons [sung text not yet checked]
• by Louis Crerar , "Take, o take those lips away", 1953 [ high voice and piano ], from Four Shakespeare Songs [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gordon Conrad Cyr (1925 - 2007), "Take, o take those lips away (Seals of love)", 1961-2, first performed 1963 [ high voice and chamber orchestra ], from Three Shakespeare Songs [sung text not yet checked]
• by Martin Dalby (b. 1942), "Take, o take those lips away", published 1968 [ medium voice and piano ], from A Muse of Love: Five Elizabethan Love Lyrics, London : Boosey [sung text not yet checked]
• by Edward Dearle , "Take oh! Take", <<1822 [ high voice and piano ], from Six Songs, London : Cramer, Addison & Beale [sung text not yet checked]
• by Matthew Dewey (b. 1984), "Take, o take those lips away", 2013, first performed 2013 [ baritone and piano ], from Four Shakespeare Songs, no. 3 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Emma Lou Diemer (b. 1927), "Take, o take those lips away ", 1960, published 1962, first performed 1960 [ SATB chorus and piano ], from Three Madrigals, NY : Boosey [sung text not yet checked]
• by Bernard van Dieren (1887 - 1936), "Take, o take those lips away", published 1925 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Christopher Dixon , "A song", published [1760?] [ soprano, 2 violins, and continuo ], from Two English Cantatas and Four Songs, both stanzas ; London : Waylett [sung text not yet checked]
• by Madeleine Dring (1923 - 1977), "Take, o take those lips away", c1950 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Lewis Byron Duke , "Take, o take those lips away ", [1960] [ voice and piano? ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Chester Duncan (1913 - 2002), "Measure for measure", 1967 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Edmunds (1913 - 1986), "Take, o take those lips away", 1934, published 1975, first performed 1936 [ high voice and piano ], Georgetown : Dragon's Teeth [sung text not yet checked]
• by Garth Edmundson (1895 - ?), "Take, oh take those lips away ", published 1943, copyright © 1942 [ medium voice and piano ], Boston : Ditson [sung text not yet checked]
• by Leo Edwards , "Seals of love", c1966, first performed 1966 [ soprano and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Paul Edwards , "Take, o take those lips away ", 1979 [ soprano or tenor and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by William Faulkes , "Take, o take those lips away ", op. 204 no. 7 (1920) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Richard J. Felciano (b. 1930), "Take, o take those lips away", 1954-5, published 1973, first performed 1955 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Three Madrigals from Wm Shakespeare, Boston : E. C. Schirmer [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Fiske , "Take, oh take those lips away ", copyright © 1873 [ voice and piano ], Boston : Russell [sung text not yet checked]
• by James Hampton Fithian , "Take, o take those lips away ", published 1927 [ medium voice and piano ], NY : G. Schirmer [sung text not yet checked]
• by Stanley Fletcher , "Take, oh take those lips away", 1950, first performed 1950 [ baritone and piano ], from A Shakespeare Triad [sung text not yet checked]
• by Wolfgang Fortner (1907 - 1987), "Take, o take those lips away ", 1946, published 1947, stanza 1 [ voice and piano ], from Songs nach Texten von William Shakespeare mit Klavierbegleitung , no. 7, Mainz : Schott, also set in German (Deutsch) [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Hans Gál (1890 - 1987), "Madrigal", first performed 1967, stanza 1 [ SATB chorus a cappella ], from Six Part-Songs [formerly: Four Part-Songs], no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Frederica Elvira Gambogi (? - 1940), "Take, o take those lips away", published 1894 [ voice and piano ], from Two Songs, London : Cocks [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Linton Gardner (1917 - 2011), "Take, o take those lips away ", op. 66 no. 5 (1964), published 1966 [ women's chorus, piano duet, and optional percussion ], from A Shakespeare Sequence, no. 5, London : Oxford University Press [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Linton Gardner (1917 - 2011), no title, 1936, first performed 1936 [ baritone and piano ], from A Suite of 5 Songs from Palgrave's Golden Treasury [sung text not yet checked]
• by Steven R. Gerber (b. 1948), "Song", 1988, stanza 1 [ medium voice and piano ], from Six Songs of William Shakespeare, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890 - 1937), "Take, o take those lips away", 1920 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Juliana Hall (b. 1958), "Take, o take those lips away", 2015, first performed 2016, stanza 1 [ counter-tenor and piano ], from O Mistress Mine -- 12 Songs for countertenor and piano on texts from plays by William Shakespeare, no. 7 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Ashley Heenan (1925 - 2004), "Take, o take those lips away ", 1956 [ alto, SATB chorus, and string orchestra ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by William Jackson (1730 - 1803), "Take, oh! take those lips away", published [1797], stanza 1 [ vocal duet for 2 voices and continuo ], from Twelve canzonets, for two voices, no. 7, London, Harrison [sung text checked 1 time]
• by John Jeffreys (1927 - 2010), "Take, o take those lips away", 1980, published 1983 [ voice and piano ], in the collection Book of Songs ; Wendover : Roberton [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Jeffreys (1927 - 2010), "Seals of love" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Joseph Kaufer (1909 - 1990), "Take o take those lips away", published 1951, stanza 1 [ voice and piano ], from Dover Beach and Other Songs, no. 3, Waukegan, Illinois: Lyric-Art [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Noël Lee (1924 - 2013), "Take, o take those lips away", 1982, stanza 1 [ tenor, clarinet, violoncello, and vibraphone ], from Three Songs from Shakespeare, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Elizabeth Maconchy (1907 - 1994), "O take those lips away", 1965, first performed 1966 [ voice and piano ], from Four Shakespeare Songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Robert Matthew-Walker (b. 1939), "Take, O take those lips away ", op. 40 no. 2 (1980) [ soprano and piano ], from Music to Hear (five Elizabethan Songs for soprano and piano), no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Charles Hubert Hastings Parry, Sir (1848 - 1918), "Take, o take those lips away", 1881-5, published [1886], first performed 1881 [ high voice and piano ], from English Lyrics, Second Set, no. 2, London : Stanley Lucas [sung text not yet checked]
• by Thomas Pasatieri (b. 1945), "At the moated grange", 2003 [ voice and piano ], from A rustling of angels, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Robert Lucas Pearsall (1795 - 1856), "Take, O take those lips away", op. 6, published 1830 [  SATTB chorus a cappella ], madrigal [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Mary Plumstead (1905 - 1980), "Take, o take those lips away", published 1956 [ voice and piano ], London : Curwen ; reissued Wendover : Roberton c1976 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "Take, o take those lips away", op. 23 no. 4 (1921), published 1921, stanza 1 [ voice and piano ; voice and piano quartet ; or voice, harp, and strings ], from Five Shakespeare Songs (Second Set), no. 4, London : Boosey [sung text checked 1 time]
• by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Take, o Take", op. 199 (1948) [ voice and piano ], from Three Songs of Sadness, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Take, O Take", op. 373 (1952) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Take, O Take Those Lips Away", op. 517 (1958) [sung text not yet checked]
• by Hendrik de Regt (b. 1950), "Take those lips away", op. 66 no. ? (1978), published 1980 [  TTBB chorus a cappella ], from three madrigals for male choir, madrigal; Amsterdam : Donemus [sung text not yet checked]
• by Edmund Duncan Rubbra (1901 - 1986), "Take, o take those lips away", op. 22 (Two Songs) no. 1 (1928), published 1929 [ voice and piano ], London : Curwen ; reissued 1971 South Croyden : Lengnick [sung text not yet checked]
• by Andrew Schneider (b. 1991), "Take, O Take Those Lips Away", 2007 [ ssa chorus a cappella ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Arthur Somervell, Sir (1863 - 1937), "Take, o take those lips away", published 1898 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Virgil Garnett Thomson (1896 - 1989), "Take, o take those lips away", 1956/7, published 1961 [ tenor and piano ], from Five Shakespeare Songs, no. 2, NY : Southern [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "Take, O take", 1925, published 1926, first performed 1925 [ voice and piano ], from 3 Songs from Shakespeare, no. 1, London : Oxford [sung text not yet checked]
• by Peter Warlock (1894 - 1930), "Take, o take those lips away", 1918, published 1919, stanza 1 [ high voice and string quartet ], London : Winthrop Rogers ; one of three settings [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Peter Warlock (1894 - 1930), "Take, o take those lips away", 1916-1917, published 1923 [ voice and piano ], from Saudades, no. 2, London : Chester ; one of three settings [sung text not yet checked]
• by Joel Weiss , "Take, o take those lips away ", 1994 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Wilson (1595 - 1674), "Take, o take those lips away", published 1652 [ high voice, theorbo or bass viol ], from Select Musicall Ayres, and Dialogues, For one and two Voyces, to sing to the Theorbo, Lute, or Basse Violl, London : Playford ; both stanzas [sung text not yet checked]

Settings in other languages, adaptations, or excerpts:

• Also set in Dutch (Nederlands), a translation by Emmanuel Hiel (1834 - 1899) , "Trek de lippen vol venijn", appears in Gedichten, in Twaalf liederen van Shakespere, no. 7, first published 1868 ; composed by Petrus Leonardus Leopoldus "Peter" Benoit.
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• Also set in French (Français), a translation by Maurice Bouchor (1855 - 1929) , "Chanson d'amour", first published 1896 ; composed by Mel Bonis.
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• Also set in French (Français), adapted by Maurice Bouchor (1855 - 1929) [an adaptation] ; composed by Ernest Amédée Chausson.
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• Also set in French (Français), a translation by Jean-François-Victor Aicard (1848 - 1921) [an adaptation] ; composed by Jules Massenet.
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• Also set in French (Français), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Henri-Pierre Poupard, as Henri Sauguet.
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• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by August Wilhelm Schlegel (1767 - 1845) ; composed by Wilhelm Killmayer, Wilhelm Petersen.
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• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation from Volkslieder (Folksongs) , from Herder's Volksliedern ; composed by Otto Claudius, Karl Sigmund Freiherr von Seckendorff.
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• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Karl Georg Mantey ; composed by Wolfgang Fortner.
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• Also set in German (Deutsch), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Alfons Graff.
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• Also set in Polish (Polski), a translation by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist ; composed by Jan Karol Gall.
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Other available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• CAT Catalan (Català) (Salvador Pila) , copyright © 2024, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• DUT Dutch (Nederlands) (L. A. J. Burgersdijk)
• FIN Finnish (Suomi) (Paavo Cajander)
• FRE French (Français) (Guy Laffaille) , copyright © 2011, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• GER German (Deutsch) (Sarah L. Weller) , "Nimm, so nimm doch Deine Lippen fort", copyright © 2010, (re)printed on this website with kind permission
• POL Polish (Polski) (Jan Kasprowicz) , "Śpiew Pacholęcia", Warsaw, first published 1907

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2003-11-04
Line count: 12
Word count: 79

Nimm, so nimm doch Deine Lippen fort,
die so süß mir schworen,
und jene Augen, wie der anbrechende Tag,
Lichter, die den Morgen lügen schelten:
Aber meine Küsse bringe mir zurück,
Pfründe der Liebe, doch vergeblich gegeben.
 
Verhülle jene schneeweißen Hügel,
mit denen Deine eisige Brust sich schmückt,
auf deren Gipfel die Nelken, die dort wachsen,
jene sind, die der April vernichtet;
doch zuvorderst setze mein armes Herz mir frei,
von Euch gebunden in jene eisigen Ketten.