Song | Nay but you, who do not love her

Nay but you, who do not love her

Language: English

Nay but you, who do not love her,
  Is she not pure gold, my mistress?
Holds earth aught -- speak truth -- above her?
  Aught like this tress, see, and this tress,
And this last fairest tress of all,
So fair, see, ere I let it fall?
Because, you spend your lives in praising;
  To praise, you search the wide world over:
Then why not witness, calmly gazing,
  If earth holds aught -- speak truth -- above her?
Above this tress, and this, I touch
But cannot praise, I love so much!

About the headline (FAQ)

Text Authorship:

by Robert Browning (1812 - 1889), "Song", appears in Bells and Pomegranates, No. VII, 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 John Parsons Beach (1877 - 1953), "Is she not pure gold", published 1907 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by William Henry Bell (1873 - 1946), "Nay, but you, who do not love her", op. 9 no. ? [ voice and piano ], from Songs of youth and springtide [sung text not yet checked]
by Harry Ellingham , "Her tresses" [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by James Cliffe Forrester (1860 - 1941), "Devotion" [ high voice and piano ], from Songs, Words by Robert Browning [sung text not yet checked]
by Eleanor Everest Freer (1864 - 1942), "Nay! but you do not love her", published 1912 [ low voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by Eleanor C. Gregory , "Song", published 1887 [ medium-high voice and piano ], from Six songs [sung text not yet checked]
by Edward Iles , "Nay, but do you not love her", published 1920 [ medium voice and piano ], from Three songs [sung text not yet checked]
by Harold Vincent Jervis-Read (1883 - 1945), "My mistress", published 1918 [ medium voice and piano ], from Two Ecstasies [sung text not yet checked]
by Malcolm Leonard Lawson (b. 1849), "Is she not pure gold, my mistress?" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by George Oldroyd (1886 - 1951), "Tresses", published 1924 [ high voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
by W. A. Pickard-Cambridge , "Nay, but you, who do not love her", published 1928 [ medium voice or low voice and piano ], from Six songs [sung text not yet checked]
by Arthur Somervell, Sir (1863 - 1937), "Song", published 1923 [ voice and piano ], from A Broken Arc, no. 4 [sung text not yet checked]
by Arthur Wilder Thayer (1857 - 1934), "Nay, but you", published 1892 [ high voice and piano ], from Three songs [sung text not yet checked]
by (John) Francis Toye (1883 - 1964), "Nay, but you, who do not love her", published 1938 [ medium voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2009-02-26
Line count: 12
Word count: 88