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I |
1 |
I have plenty of song masters |
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And song mistresses around me: |
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Meadows and orchards, trees and flowers, |
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Birds’ songs and lays and cries |
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5 |
For the sweet, gentle season, |
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And so I settle with a little enjoyment, |
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Such that no diversion can gladden me |
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As does the company of worthy love. |
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II |
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Let the shepherds have their pipes, |
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10 |
And the children their little games, |
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And let such loves be mine |
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In which I may enjoy and be enjoyed; |
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For I know her to be wholly good |
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To her lover in a forbidding place: |
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15 |
Because of this I feel too often afflicted, |
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For I do not have what my heart hopes for. |
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III |
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Far are the castle and the tower |
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Where she and her husband lie; |
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And if I am not furthered |
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20 |
By good counselors’ advice— |
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For any other counsel is worth little to me, |
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So true is my heartfelt desire— |
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Then there’s nothing left but to die, |
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If I do not have some enjoyment soon. |
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IV |
25 |
I call lords all those near |
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The land where this joy was raised, |
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And it must, I think, be a great honor for me, |
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For I believe that the most vile |
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Are courtly and loyal; |
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30 |
I have a good affection for and opinion of |
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The love which I hold in my heart, |
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And I know that she is well aware of it. |
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V |
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My heart is so much there with her |
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That its summit and root are nowhere else, |
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35 |
And while I sleep under covers |
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My spirit is there with her |
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And [yet] her love undoes me, |
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For I love her so much and it does not matter to her; |
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Soon I shall see if by enduring |
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40 |
I can hope for my enjoyment. |
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VI |
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My will goes quickly |
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At night and in daylight |
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Into that place, for desire of relief, |
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But she comes to me late and says to me: |
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45 |
“Love,” she says, “jealous boors |
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Have started a dispute |
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That will be hard to settle |
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To the point where we can enjoy ourselves together.” |
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VII |
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And so my pain grows even greater, |
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50 |
For I hear her in convenient places; |
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But I do not sigh and weep so much |
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That one single little kiss |
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Would not keep me safe and sound; |
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Love is good and has great value, |
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55 |
And can cure me of this ailment |
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Without the help of a learned doctor. |
