Woman's constancy (Donne, set by S. Adler, M. Arnold) (The Lied and Art Song Texts Page: Texts and Translations to Lieder, mélodies, canzoni, and other classical vocal music)


Now thou hast loved me one whole day,
Tomorrow when thou leav'st, what wilt thou say?
Wilt thou then antedate some new made vow?
	   Or say that now
We are not just those persons, which we were?
Or, that oaths made in reverential fear
Of Love, and his wrath, any may forswear?
Or, as true deaths, true marriages untie,
So lovers' contracts, images of those,
Bind but till sleep, death's image, them unloose?
	   Or, your own end to justify,
For having purposed change, and falsehood, you
Can have no way but falsehood to be true?
Vain lunatic, against these 'scapes I could
	   Dispute, and conquer, if I would,
	   Which I abstain to do,
For by tomorrow, I may think so too.

Authorship

John Donne (1572-1631)

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

Samuel Hans Adler (1928-)

Unholy Sonnets

Malcolm Henry Arnold (1921-2006)

Two John Donne Songs

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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