by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674)
White though ye be; yet, Lillies, know
Language: English
White though ye be; yet, Lillies, know, From the first ye were not so: But Ile tell ye What befell ye; Cupid and his Mother lay In a Cloud; while both did play, He with his pretty finger prest The rubie niplet of her breast; Out of which, the creame of light, Like to a Dew, Fell downe on you, And made ye white.
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Text Authorship:
- by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674), "How lilies came white" [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 Gordon Ware Binkerd (1916 - 2003), "How Lillies came white" [text verified 1 time]
- by William Lawes (1602 - 1645), "White though ye be. On the Lilies", from the collection Songs from the Autograph Songbook, no. 29. [text not verified]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 64