Fain would I change that note
To which fond Love hath charm'd me
Long, long to sing by rote,
Fancying that that harm'd me:

Yet when this thought doth come
'Love is the perfect sum 
Of all delight!'
I have no other choice
Either for pen or voice
To sing or write.

O Love! they wrong thee much
That say thy [fruit]1 is bitter,
When thy [rich]2 fruit is such
As nothing can be sweeter.

Fair house of joy and bliss,
Where truest pleasure is,
I do adore thee:
I know thee what thou art,
I serve thee with my heart,
And fall before thee.

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Hume, Mulholland, Orr, Quilter: "sweet"
² Hume: "ripe"

Text Authorship:

• by Anonymous / Unidentified Author [author's text not yet checked against a primary source]
• sometimes misattributed to Tobias Hume (c1569 - 1645)

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 Linton Gardner (1917 - 2011), "Fain would I change that note ", op. 150 no. 2 (1980) [ high voice, oboe, and piano ], from Hebdomade, no. 2 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889 - 1960), "Devotion" [ satb chorus ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Ivor (Bertie) Gurney (1890 - 1937), "Fain would I change that note", c1918-1919 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Gustav Holst (1874 - 1934), "Fain would I change that note", op. 15 (Six Songs) no. 2 (1903) [ baritone and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Tobias Hume (c1569 - 1645), "Fain would I change that note", published 1605, from Musicall Humors [sung text checked 1 time]
• by John (Nicholson) Ireland (1879 - 1962), "Fain would I change that note", 1921 [ chorus a cappella ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by James Mulholland (b. 1935), "Devotion" [ soprano, violoncello, and piano ], from Four Love Songs, no. 4 [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Charles Wilfred Orr (1893 - 1976), "Fain would I change that note", 1937 [ three-part chorus and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Humphrey Procter-Gregg (1895 - 1980), "Fain would I change that note" [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Humphrey Procter-Gregg (1895 - 1980), "Fain would I change that note" [ chorus ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Roger Quilter (1877 - 1953), "Fair house of joy", op. 12 no. 7 (1907), published 1908 [ voice and piano ], from Seven Elizabethan Lyrics, no. 7, London, Boosey [sung text checked 1 time]
• by Alan Rawsthorne (1905 - 1971), "Fain would I change that note", c1934 [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Fain Would I Change That Note", op. 123 (1946) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by John Theodore Livingston Raynor (1909 - 1970), "Fain would I change that note", op. 206 (1948) [ voice and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
• by Arthur Somervell, Sir (1863 - 1937), "Love's apology", published 1898 [ voice and piano ], from Three Songs with Piano, no. 2, confirmed with a CD booklet [sung text checked 1 time]
• by William Walton (1902 - 1983), "Fain would I change that note", from Anon. in Love, no. 1 [sung text checked 1 time]

Research team for this page: Emily Ezust [Administrator] , Ted Perry

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 105