Ask me no more

Ask me no more: the moon may draw the sea;
The cloud may stoop from heaven and take the shape,
With fold to fold, of mountain or of cape;
But O too fond, when have I answer'd thee?
       Ask me no more.

Ask me no more: what answer should I give?
I love not hollow cheek or faded eye:
Yet, O my friend, I will not have thee die!
Ask me no more, lest I should bid thee live;
       Ask me no more.

Ask me no more: thy fate and mine are seal'd:
I strove against the stream and all in vain;
Let the great river take me to the main.
No more, dear love, for at a touch I yield;
       Ask me no more.

Input by Carl Johengen

Authorship

by Lord Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892) , no title, from The Princess, published 1850

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

by Oliveria Louisa Prescott (1842-1919) , "Ask me no more", published 1874 [voice, piano, and cello], London: Stanley Lucas & Weber
by Ned Rorem (1923-) , "Ask me no more"
by Joseph Taffs , "Ask me no more", published 1923, from Album of Five Songs, no. 4.

Text added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

Notes about green, red, and white dots

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