by Thomas Dekker (c1572 - 1632)
Art thou poor, yet hast thou golden...
Language: English
Art thou poor, yet hast thou golden slumbers: O sweet content! Art thou rich yet is thy mind perplexed, O punishment. Dost thou laugh to see how fools are vexed, To add to golden numbers, golden numbers. O sweet content, etc. [Work]1 work apace, apace, apace; Honest labor bears a lovely face; Then hey nonny, hey nonny: hey nonny, nonny. Canst drink the waters of the crisped spring, O sweet content! Swim'st thou in wealth, yet sink'st in thine own tears, O punishment. Then he [that]2 patiently wants, burden bears, No burden bears, but is a King, a King. O sweet content, etc.
About the headline (FAQ)
View original text (without footnotes)Confirmed with Henry Chettle and Thomas Dekker, Patient Grissil, London, 1632. Modernized spelling.
1 Beach: "Then work"2 Beach: "who"
Text Authorship:
- by Thomas Dekker (c1572 - 1632), "The song", appears in The Pleasant Comoedy of Patient Grissill, first published 1603 [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 Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (1867 - 1944), "O sweet content", op. 71 (Three Songs) no. 2 [sung text checked 1 time]
- by (Henry) Walford Davies, Sir (1869 - 1941), "Sweet content", op. 25, Heft 2 no. 7 (1908) [ bass and orchestra or piano ], from The Long Journey, no. 7 [sung text not yet checked]
- by (Henry) Walford Davies, Sir (1869 - 1941), "Sweet content", published 1931 [ voice and piano ], from Twenty-one songs, no. 18 [sung text not yet checked]
- by Charles Villiers Stanford, Sir (1852 - 1924), "O sweet content", op. 138 (Six Songs for Two Sopranos) no. 6, published 1914 [ vocal duet for soprano and alto with piano ], London: J. Curwen & Sons Ltd. [sung text not yet checked]
- by Peter Warlock (1894 - 1930), "Sweet content", 1919, published 1920 [ voice and piano ] [sung text checked 1 time]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.
Line count: 17
Word count: 102