by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950)
The Betrothal
Language: English
Oh come, my lad, or go, my lad, And love me if you like. I shall not hear the door shut Or the knocker strike. Oh bring me gifts or beg me gifts, And wed me if you will. I'd make a man a good wife, Sensible and still. And why should I be cold, my lad, And why should you repine, Because I love a dark head That never will be mine. I might as well be easing you As lie alone in bed And waste the night in wanting A cruel dark head. You might as well be calling yours What never will be his, And one of us be happy -- There's few enough as is.
Text Authorship:
- by Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892 - 1950) [author's text not yet checked 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 Lynn Steele (1951 - 2002), "The Betrothal" [ mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Seven Songs of Edna St. Vincent Millay, no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by Scott Wheeler (b. 1952), "The Betrothal", 1990 [ soprano or mezzo-soprano and piano ], from Wasting the Night, no. 5, Scott Wheeler Music [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this page: Lynn Steele
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 20
Word count: 118