Oft, with wanton smiles and jeers (Jonathan Battishill)
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- (Posted 2023-08-14) CPDL #74863:
- Editor: Christopher Shaw (submitted 2023-08-14). Score information: A4, 4 pages, 243 kB Copyright: CC BY SA
- Edition notes: Please click on the link for preview/playback/PDF download.
General Information
Title: Oft, with wanton smiles and jeers
Composer: Jonathan Battishill
Lyricist: Anacreon (trans. Francis Fawkes)create page
Number of voices: 3vv Voicing: ATB
Genre: Secular, Glee
Language: English
Instruments: A cappella
First published: c.1775 (n/d)
Description:
External websites:
Original text and translations
English text
Oft, with wanton smiles and jeers,
Women tell me I'm in years;
I, the mirror when I view,
Find alas! they tell me true,
Find my wrinkled forehead bare,
And regret my falling hair.
White and few, alas! I find,
All that time has left behind.
Hot my hairs, if thus they fall,
If but few or none at all,
Asking not, I'll never share
Fruitless knowledge, fruitless care.
This important truth I know,
If indeed in years I grow,
I must snatch what life can give;
Not to love is not to live.