by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861)
The first time that the sun rose on...
Language: English
The first time that the sun rose on thine oath To love me, I looked forward to the moon To slacken all those bonds which seemed too soon And quickly tied to make a lasting troth. Quick-loving hearts, I thought, may quickly loathe; And, looking on myself, I seemed not one For such man's love! -- more like an out-of-tune Worn viol, a good singer would be wroth To spoil his song with, and which, snatched in haste, Is laid down at the first ill-sounding note. I did not wrong myself so, but I placed A wrong on thee. For perfect strains may float 'Neath master-hands, from instruments defaced, -- And great souls, at one stroke, may do and doat.
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Text Authorship:
- by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861), no title, appears in Poems, in Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 32, first published 1847 [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 Louis Cheslock (1898 - 1981), "The first time that the sun rose on thine oath" [ mezzo-soprano or tenor and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]
- by Celius Dougherty (1902 - 1986), "The first time that the sun rose on thine oath", 1975 [ soprano and piano ], from Eglantine and Ivy [sung text not yet checked]
- by Eleanor Everest Freer (1864 - 1942), "The first time that the sun rose on thine oath", published 1910 [ medium voice and piano ], from Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 32 [sung text not yet checked]
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Rainer Maria Rilke) , no title, appears in Sonette aus dem Portugiesischen, no. 32, first published 1908
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2008-07-24
Line count: 14
Word count: 118