by Geoffrey Chaucer (c1343 - 1400)
So hath your beaute fro your herte...
Language: English
So hath your beaute fro your herte chaced
Pitee, that me ne availeth not to pleyne;
For Daunger halt your mercy in his cheyne.
Giltles my deth thus han ye me purchaced;
I sey yow soth, me nedeth not to feyne;
So hath your beaute fro your herle chaced
Pilee, that me ne availeth not to pleyne
Allas! that nature hath in yow compassed
So gret beaute, that no man may atteyne
To mercy, though he sterve for the peyne.
So hath your beaute fro your herte chaced
Pitee, that me ne availeth not to pleyne;
For daunger halt your mercy in his cheyne.
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Modernized form used by Vaughan Williams:
So hath your beauty from your hertë chased Pity, that me ne availeth not to plain: For Daunger halt your mercy n his chain. Guiltless my death thus have ye me purchased; I say you sooth, me needeth not to feign: So hath your beauty from your hertë chased Pity, that me ne availeth not to plain. Alas! That nature hath in you compassed So great beauty, that no man may attain To mercy, though he stervë for the pain! So hath your beauty from your hertë chased Pity, that me ne availeth not to plain: For Daunger halt your mercy n his chain.
Text Authorship:
- by Geoffrey Chaucer (c1343 - 1400), "Rejection", appears in Merciles Beaute: A Triple Roundel, no. 2 [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 Edmund Duncan Rubbra (1901 - 1986), "Rejection", op. 7 (Two Songs with String Quartet) no. 1 (1923) [ voice and string quartet ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872 - 1958), "So hath your beauty", 1921 [ soprano or tenor, 2 violins, violoncello ], from Merciless Beauty, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Ted Perry
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 13
Word count: 104