Take, o take those lips away

Take, o take those lips away,
That so sweetly [were]1 forsworn;
And those eyes, the break of day,
Lights [that]2 do mislead the morn:
But my kisses bring again;
Seals of love, [but]3 seal'd in vain, sealed in vain.

Hide, o hide those hills of snow
that thy frozen bosom wears,
On whose tops the pinks that grow
are yet of those that April wears;
But first set my poor heart free,
Bound in those icy chains by thee.

by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist
sometimes misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

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

by Frederic Ayres (1876-1926) , "Take, o take those lips away", op. 3 (Three Songs) no. 1, stanza 1.
by Amy Marcy Cheney Beach (1867-1944) , "Take, o take those lips away", op. 37 (Three Shakespeare Songs) no. 2.
by Henry Rowley Bishop (1785-1855) , "Take, o take those lips away"
by Rebecca Clarke (1886-1979) , "Take, o take those lips away", 1926?
by Bernard van Dieren (1887-1936) , "Take, o take those lips away", published 1925.
by Madeleine Dring (1923-1977) , "Take, o take those lips away"
by John Edmunds (1913-1986) , "Take, o take those lips away"
by Wolfgang Fortner (1907-1987) , "Take, o take those lips away", 1946, published 1947, stanza 1 [voice and piano], from Songs nach Texten von William Shakespeare mit Klavierbegleitung, no. 7.
by Elizabeth Maconchy (1907-1994) , "Take O Take Those Lips Away", from Four Shakespeare Songs, no. 2.
by Sir Charles Hubert Hastings Parry (1848-1918) , "Take, o take those lips away", 1874-1885, published 1886, from English Lyrics, set 2 no. 2
by Thomas Pasatieri (1945-) , "At the moated grange", 2003 [voice and piano], from A rustling of angels, no. 5.
by Robert Pearsall (1795-1856) , "Take, O take those lips away" [madrigal]
by Mary Plumstead (1905-1980) , "Take, o take those lips away"
by Roger Quilter (1877-1953) , "Take, o take those lips away", op. 23 no. 4, stanza 1.
by Edmund Duncan Rubbra (1901-1986) , "Take, o take those lips away", op. 22 no. 1 (1929).
by Virgil Garnett Thomson (1896-1989) , "Take, o take those lips away", 1956/7, published 1961.
by Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958) , "Take, O take those lips away", 1925, from 3 Songs from Shakespeare, no. 1.
by Peter Warlock (1894-1930) [pseudonym] , "Take, o take those lips away", 1917, published 1919, stanza 1.
by John Wilson (1595-1674) , "Take, o take those lips away"

by Wilhelm Petersen (1890-1957) , "Bleibt, o bleibt ihr Lippen ferne", op. 46 no. 6, from Lieder aus Shakespeare-Dramen, no. 6.

by Ernest Amédée Chausson (1855-1899) , "Chanson d'amour (Mesure pour mesure)", op. 28 no. 2, from Trois Chansons de Shakespeare, no. 2.

FIN Finnish (Paavo Cajander)

Date added to the website: 2003-11-04.

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Chanson d'amour (Mesure pour mesure)

Loin de moi, loin de moi ces lèvres que j'adore
Et dont le mensonge, hélas! fut si doux.
Ces beaux yeux que le ciel de mai prend pour l'aurore
Ces yeux qui rendaient le matin jaloux.
Mais si malgré tout ma douleur te touche,
Ah! Rends-moi, rends-moi mes baisers,
Sceaux d'amour qui furent posés
En vain sur tes yeux, tes yeux et ta bouche.

by Maurice Bouchor (1855-1929)

a text in English by Anonymous/Unidentified Artist GER FIN
a text in English misattributed to William Shakespeare (1564-1616) GER FIN

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

by Ernest Amédée Chausson (1855-1899) , "Chanson d'amour (Mesure pour mesure)", op. 28 no. 2, from Trois Chansons de Shakespeare, no. 2.

Date added to the website: 2003-11-19.