The sun rising

        Busy old fool, unruly Sun,
        Why dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through curtains, call on us ?
Must to thy motions lovers' seasons run ?
        Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide
        Late school-boys and sour prentices,
    Go tell court-huntsmen that the king will ride,
    Call country ants to harvest offices ;
Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime,
Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time.

        Thy beams so reverend, and strong
        Why shouldst thou think ?
I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink,
But that I would not lose her sight so long.
        If her eyes have not blinded thine,
        Look, and to-morrow late tell me,
    Whether both th' Indias of spice and mine
    Be where thou left'st them, or lie here with me.
Ask for those kings whom thou saw'st yesterday,
And thou shalt hear, "All here in one bed lay."

        She's all states, and all princes I ;
        Nothing else is ;
Princes do but play us ; compared to this,
All honour's mimic, all wealth alchemy.
        Thou, Sun, art half as happy as we,
        In that the world's contracted thus ;
    Thine age asks ease, and since thy duties be
    To warm the world, that's done in warming us.
Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere ;
This bed thy center is, these walls thy sphere.

by John Donne (1572-1631) , "The sun rising"

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

by Huib Emmer (1951-) , "The rags of time", 1989.
by Elizabeth Maconchy (1907-1994) , "The sun rising", 1966, first performed 1966.

Date added to the website: 2008-07-27.

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.

Search/Shop for

Sheet music:

  Search sheetmusicplus.com for The rags of time, The sun rising, Art song , Lieder, chansons, or works for solo voice
  Search musicroom.com for The rags of time, The sun rising, vocal/choral music

CDs:

  Search amazon.com for The rags of time, The sun rising, art song, Lieder, or chansons
  Search amazon.ca for The rags of time, The sun rising, art song, Lieder, or chansons

Books:

  The Art of the Song Recital [amazon.com]
  The Book of Lieder: The Original Texts of Over 1000 Songs [amazon.com]
  Search amazon.com for art song, Lieder, or chansons
  Search amazon.ca for art song, lieder, or chansons

Classical Vocal Repertoire