Tell me not, sweet, I am unkind

Tell me not, sweet, I am unkind,
That from the nunnery
Of thy chaste breast and quiet mind
To war and arms I fly.

True, a new mistress now I chase,
The first foe in the field;
And with a stronger faith embrace
A sword, a horse, a shield.

Yet this inconstancy is such
As you too shall adore;
I could not love thee, dear, so much,
Lov'd I not honour more.

by Richard Lovelace (1618-1658)

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive)

by Richard Jackson Cumming (1928-) , "Going to the warres", 1963, published 1969 [medium voice and piano], from We Happy Few, no. 6.
by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848-1918) , "To Lucasta, on going to the wars", 1895, published 1895, from English Lyrics, set 3 no. 1
by Sir Arthur Somervell (1863-1937) , "To Lucasta, on going to the wars"

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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