by Anonymous / Unidentified Author
A shepherd in a shade
Language: English
A shepherd in a shade, His plaining made, Of love and lovers' wrong, Unto the fairest lass That trod on grass, And thus began his song. Since Love and Fortune will, I honour still Your fair and lovely eye. What conquest will it be, Sweet nymph, for thee If I for sorrow die? Restore, restore my heart again, Which love by thy sweet looks hath slain, Lest that, enforc'd by your disdain, I sing: "Fie, fie on love, it is a foolish thing." My heart where have you laid? O cruel maid, To kill, when you might save! Why have ye cast it forth, As nothing worth, Without a tomb or grave? O let it be entomb'd and lie In your sweet mind and memory, Lest I resound on every warbling string: "Fie, fie on love, that is a foolish thing!"
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 John Dowland (1562 - 1626), "A shepherd in a shade", published 1600 [voice and lute], from the collection Second Book of Songs or Airs [text verified 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 26
Word count: 141