by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674)
He that will not love
Language: English
He that will not love must be My scholar and learn this of me: There be in love as many fears As the summer corn have ears; Sighs and sobs, and troubles more Than the sand upon the shore; Now an ague, then a fever Both tormenting lovers ever. Woulds't thou know besides all these How hard a woman 'tis to please? How high she's prized, whose worth's but small? Little thou'lt love, or nought at all.
Text Authorship:
- by Robert Herrick (1591 - 1674) [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 William Lawes (1602 - 1645), "He that will not love", from the collection Songs from the Autograph Songbook, no. 27. [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 77