Thou wouldst be loved? -- then let thy heart
     From its present pathway part not!
Being everything which now thou art,
     Be nothing which thou art not.
So with the world thy gentle ways,
     Thy grace, thy more than beauty,
Shall be an endless theme of praise,
     And love -- a simple duty.

About the headline (FAQ)

Note: "F--s S. O--d" is Frances Sargent Osgood.

Text Authorship:

• by Edgar Allan Poe (1809 - 1849), "To F--s S. O--d", written 1835, appears in The Raven and Other Poems, first published 1845 [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 Daron Aric Hagen (b. 1961), "Thou wouldst be loved", from Echo's songs, no. 9 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Henderson , "Thou wouldst be loved", published 1901 [ medium voice and piano ], from Two Songs for Medium Voice [sung text not yet checked]
• by Oscar George Theodore Sonneck (1873 - 1928), "Thou wouldst be loved", op. 16 (Four Poems by Edgar Allan Poe) no. 2, published 1917 [ baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2008-08-27
Line count: 8
Word count: 51