I ask'd my fair, one happy day,
What I should call her in my lay,
By what sweet name from Rome or Greece,
[Neaera, Laura, Daphne, Chloris,
Carina, Lalage, or Doris,
Dorimene, or Lucrece?]1

"Ah!" replied my gentle fair,
"[Dear one]2, what are names but air?
Choose thou whatever suits the line;
Call me [Sappho]3, call me Chloris,
Call me Lalage or Doris,
Only -- only -- call me thine!"

About the headline (FAQ)

View original text (without footnotes)
¹ Ide:

Lalage, Neaera, Chloris,
Seppho, Lesbia, or Doris,
Arethusa or Lucrece?

² Ide: "Beloved"
³ Ide: "Laura"

Text Authorship:

• by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772 - 1834), "Epigrams" [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 Chester Edward Ide (1878 - 1944), "Names", published 1907. [
   text verified 1 time
  ]

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 12
Word count: 68