by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
When first I saw thee
Language: English
When first I saw thee, thou didst sweetly play The gentle thief, and stol'st my heart away. Render 't again, or else send me thine own, Two is too much for thee, when I have none; Which if thou dost not, I will swear thou art A sweet-faced creature with a double heart. Yet pardon, fair one. I did freely give To thee my heart and yet without it live. By powerful flames shot from thy conquering eye To thee, sweet mansion, let it ever fly; And though I am of my poor heart bereft, 'T may prove a happy union, not a theft.
Authorship:
- by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [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 Walter Porter (1587 - 1659), "When first I saw thee", published 1632. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this page: John Versmoren
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 104