Love will find out the way

Over the mountains,
And over the waves,
Under the fountains
And under the graves.
Under floods that are deepest
Which Neptune obey,
Over rocks that are steepest,
Love will find out the way.

Where there is no place
For the glow-worm to lie,
Where there is no space
For receipt of a fly;
Where the midge dare not venture
Lest herself fast she lay,
If love come, he will enter
And [soon find out his way]1.

You may esteem him
A child for his might;
Or you may deem him
A coward from his flight;
But if she whom love doth honour
Be conceal’d from the day,
Set a thousand guards upon her,
Love will find out the way.

Some think to [lose him
By having]2 him confined;
[And]3 some do suppose him,
Poor thing, to be blind;
But if ne'er so close ye wall him,
Do the best that ye may,
Blind love, if so ye call him,
[Will find out his way]4.

You may train the eagle
To stoop to your fist;
Or you may inveigle
The phoenix of the East,
The lioness, [ye]5 may move her
to [give]6 o'er her prey;
But you'll ne'er stop a lover:
[He will find out his way]7.

View text without footnotes
¹ Quilter: "will find out the way"
² Quilter: "loose him/ Or have"
³ omitted by Quilter.
⁴ Quilter: "Soon will find out his way"
⁵ Quilter: "you"
⁶ Quilter: "get"
⁷ Quilter: "love shall find out the way"

Input by Ted Perry

Authorship

from Folk poetry or song tradition (Volkslieder) , "Love will find out the way", from Reliques of Ancient English Poetry, collected by Thomas Percy

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

by Hans Gál (1890-1987) , "Love will find out a way", op. 61 no. 1 (1953?), published 1954 [SATB chorus a cappella], from Four Part-Songs, no. 1, Boosey & Hawkes, London
by Roger Quilter (1877-1953) , "Over the mountains", stanzas 1-2,4-5, from Three songs from old English popular songs, no. 3.

by Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) , "Weg der Liebe I", op. 20 (Drei Duette) no. 1 (1858). [sop,alt,pf]
by Max Bruch (1838-1920) , "Weg der Liebe I", op. 49 (Lieder und Gesänge) no. 5, published 1882, Berlin, Simrock

by James Mulholland (1935-) , "Love will find out the way!" [soprano, violoncello, and piano], from Four Love Songs, no. 2.

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

Notes about green, red, and white dots

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