possibly by Henry Hughes (c1602 - c1652) and possibly by John Suckling, Sir (1609 - 1642)
I prithee send me back my heart
Language: English
I prithee send me back my heart Since I cannot have thine, For if from yours you will not part Why then should you keep mine? Yet now I think on it let it lie To send it me were vain, For thou'st a thief in either eye Will steal it back again. Why should two hearts in one breast lie And yet not lodge together? O love where is thy sympathy If thus our hearts thou sever? But love is such a mystery I cannot find it out, For when I think I'm best resolved Then am I most in doubt. Then farewell care and farewell woe, I will no longer pine; But I'll believe I have his heart As much as he hath mine.
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Text Authorship:
- possibly by Henry Hughes (c1602 - c1652) [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
- possibly by John Suckling, Sir (1609 - 1642) [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 Jean Berger, né Arthur Schloßberg (1909 - 2002), "I prithee send me back my heart", published 1984, from Amoretti: Five love songs on poems by 16th and 17th century authors, no. 5 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Henry Lawes (c1595 - 1662), "I prithee send me back my heart" [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Maude Valérie White (1855 - 1937), "I prithee send me back my heart", published 1880 [ voice and piano ], London, Stanley Lucas, Weber & Co. [sung text not yet checked]
Set in a modified version by Frank Valentin Van der Stucken.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 126