Your eyën two will slay me suddenly (Chaucer, set by R. Vaughan Williams, A. Bax) (The Lied and Art Song Texts Page: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music)


Your eyën two will slay me suddenly:
I may the beauty of them not sustene,
So woundeth it throughout my hertë ken.
And but your word will helen hastily
My hertës woundë, while that it is green,
Your eyën two will slay me suddenly:
I may the beauty of them not sustene,

Upon my troth I say to you faithfully,
That ye be my life and death the queen,
For with my death the truthë shall be seen:
Your eyën two will slay me suddenly:
I may the beauty of them not sustene,
So woundeth it throughout my hertë kene.

Input by Ted Perry

Authorship

Geoffrey Chaucer (c1343-1400)

Merciles Beaute: A Triple Roundel

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

Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax (1883-1953)

Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)

Merciless Beauty

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

Gentle Reminder

This project is not funded. If you found the information here useful, please consider making a donation. Your gift is greatly appreciated!
- Emily

I also have a wishlist at Amazon.ca.