by Thomas Lodge (1558 - 1625)
Love guides the roses of thy lips
Language: English
Love guides the roses of thy lips, And flies about them like a bee; If I approach he forward skips, And if I kiss he stingeth me. Love in thine eyes doth build his bower, And sleeps within their pretty shine; And if I look the boy will lower, And from their orbs shoot shafts divine. Love works thy heart within his fire, And in my tears doth firm the same; And if I tempt it will retire, And of my plaints doth make a game. Love, let me cull her choicest flowers, And pity me, and calm her eye, Make soft her heart, dissolve her lowers, Then will I praise thy deity. But if thou do not love, I'll truly serve her. In spite of thee, and by firm faith deserve her.
A. Foote sets lines 1-8, 13-16
About the headline (FAQ)
Text Authorship:
- by Thomas Lodge (1558 - 1625), no title, appears in Sonnets to Phillis, no. 13 [author's text checked 1 time 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 Arthur Foote (1853 - 1937), "Love guides the roses", op. 67 (Four songs) no. 2, published 1908, copyright © 1908, lines 1-8, 13-16 [ low voice and piano ], Boston, Arthur P. Schmidt [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Fritz Bennicke Hart (1874 - 1949), "Love guides the roses of thy lips", 1899 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2009-01-29
Line count: 18
Word count: 134