by William Congreve (1670 - 1729)
As Amoret and Thyrsis, lay
Language: English
I As Amoret and Thyrsis, lay Melting the Hours, in gentle Play; Joining Faces, mingling Kisses, And exchanging harmless Blisses: He, trembling, cry'd, with eager haste, O let me feed as well as taste, I die, if I'm not wholly blest. II The fearful Nymph reply'd -- Forbear: I cannot, dare not, must not hear Dearest Thyrsis, do not move me, Do not -- do not -- if you love me. O let me -- still, the shepherd said; But while she fond Resistance made, The hasty Joy, in strugling fled. III Vex'd at the pleasure she had mist, She frown'd and blush'd, then sigh'd and kist, And seem'd to moan in sullen Cooing, The sad miscarriage of their Wooing. But vain alas! were all her Charms; For Thyrsis deaf to loves alarms, Baffled and senseless, tir'd her Arms.
H. Purcell sets stanza 1
About the headline (FAQ)
Confirmed with The Works of Mr. William Congreve, Volume the First, Dublin : W. and W. Smith, J. Exshaw, and T. Ewing, 1766, pages 34-35.
Authorship:
- by William Congreve (1670 - 1729), "Song", appears in The Old Batchelor [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 Henry Purcell (1658/9 - 1695), "As Amoret and Thyrsis lay", Z. 607 no. 11, stanza 1 [ sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 24
Word count: 135