My days have been so wondrous free (Elizabeth Turner)
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- (Posted 2024-03-06) CPDL #79408:
- Editor: Christopher Shaw (submitted 2024-03-06). Score information: A4, 3 pages, 417 kB Copyright: CC BY SA
- Edition notes: Please click on the link for preview/playback/PDF download.
General Information
Title: My days have been so wondrous free
Composer: Elizabeth Turner
Lyricist: Thomas Parnellcreate page
Number of voices: 1v Voicing: solo high
Genre: Secular, Aria
Language: English
Instruments: Basso continuo,violin
First published: 1756
Description:
External websites:
Original text and translations
English text
My days have been so wondrous free;
The little birds, that fly
With careless ease from tree to tree,
Were but as pleas'd as I.
Ask gliding waters if a tear
Of mine increas'd their stream;
Or ask the flying gales if e'er
I lent a sigh to them.
But now my former days retire,
And I'm by beauty caught;
The tender chains of sweet desire
Are fix'd upon my thought:
An eager hope within my breast
Does ev'ry doubt control,
And charming Nancy stands confess'd
The fav'rite of my soul.
Ye nightingales, ye twisting pines,
Ye swains that haunt the grove,
Ye gentle echoes, breezy winds,
Ye close retreats of love:
With all of nature, all of art
Assist the dear design;
Oh! teach a young unpractis'd heart
To make her ever mine.
The very thought of change I hate,
As much as of despair,
And hardly covet to be great,
Unless it be for her.
'Tis true, the passion in my mind
Is mix'd with soft distress;
Yet while the fair I love is kind,
I cannot wish it less.