Bid me to live, and I will live

Bid me to live, and I will live
  Thy Protestant to be:
Or bid me love, and I will give
  A loving heart to thee.

A heart as soft, a heart as kind,
  A heart as sound and free,
As in the whole world thou canst find,
 That heart I'll give to thee.

Bid that heart stay, and it will stay,
  To honour thy Decree:
Or bid it languish quite away,
  And 't shall doe so for thee.

Bid me to weep, and I will weep,
  While I have eyes to see:
And having none, yet I will keep
  A heart to weep for thee.

Bid me despair, and I'll despair,
  Under that cypress-tree:
Or bid me die, and I will dare
  E'en Death, to die for thee.

Thou art my life, my love, my heart,
The very eyes of me:
And has command of ev'ry part,
To live and die for thee.

by Robert Herrick (1591-1674)

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

by David Arditti (1964-) , "To Anthea, who may command him anything", op. 9 no. 3, from Gather Ye Rosebuds, no. 3.
by John Alden Carpenter (1876-1951) , "Bid me to live", 1912, stanzas 1-2,5, note: also set in French
by John Liptrot Hatton (1809-1886) , "To Anthea, who may command him anything"
by Mervyn, Lord Horder, the Second Baron of Ashford (1910-1998) , "Bid me to live", alternate title: "To Anthea". [voice and piano]
by Ned Rorem (1923-) , "To Anthea, who may command him anything", published 1952, from Flight For Heaven, no. 10.

by John Alden Carpenter (1876-1951) , "Dis-moi d'aimer", 1912, note: also set in English

Added to the website between May 1995 and September 2003.

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