by John Keats (1795 - 1821)
Sharing Eve's apple
Language: English
O blush not so! O blush not so! Or I shall think you knowing; And if you smile the blushing while, Then maidenheads are going. There's a blush for want, and a blush for shan't, And a blush for having done it; There's a blush for thought, and a blush for nought, And a blush for just begun it. O sigh not so! O sigh not so! For it sounds of Eve's sweet pippin; By these loosen'd lips you have tasted the pips And fought in an amorous nipping. Will you play once more at nice-cut-core, For it only will last our youth out, And we have the prime of the kissing time, We have not one sweet tooth out. There's a sigh for aye, and a sigh for nay, And a sigh for "I can't bear it!" O what can be done, shall we stay or run? O cut the sweet apple and share it!
Text Authorship:
- by John Keats (1795 - 1821), "Sharing Eve's apple", first published 1883 [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 Dominick Argento (1927 - 2019), "Sharing Eve's apple", 1968, published 1969 [mixed chorus a cappella], from A Nation of Cowslips, no. 5, NY: Boosey & Hawkes [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Eugene Hartzell (1932 - 2000), "Sharing Eve's apple", 1971, first performed 1972 [tenor and piano], from Five Songs for Tenor and Piano [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
- by Kenneth Kirby , "Sharing Eve's apple", published 1956 [tenor and piano], London : Benson [ sung text not yet checked against a primary source]
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]
This text was added to the website: 2010-12-17
Line count: 20
Word count: 157