In vain I try my ev'ry art (William Boyce)
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- (Posted 2022-07-11) CPDL #69976:
- Editor: Christopher Shaw (submitted 2022-07-11). Score information: A4, 324 kB Copyright: CC BY SA
- Edition notes: Please click on the link for preview/playback/PDF download.
General Information
Title: In vain I try my ev'ry art
Composer: William Boyce
Lyricist: Anonymous
Number of voices: 1v Voicing: Solo high
Genre: Secular, Aria
Language: English
Instruments: Basso continuo Violin obbligato
First published: 1753
Description: Written for The Chaplet, a musical entertainment, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. Also used in the London pleasure gardens.
External websites:
Original text and translations
English text
In vain I try my ev'ry art,
Nor can I fix a single heart,
Yet I'm not old or ugly.
Let me consult my faithful glass
A face much worse than this might pass,
Methinks I look full smugly.
Yet bless'd with all these powerful charms,
The young Palaemon fled these arms,
That wild unthinking rover.
Hope silly maids as soon to bind
The rolling streams, the flying wind,
As fix a rambling lover.
But hamper'd in the marriage noose,
In vain they struggle to get loose,
And make a mighty riot.
Like madmen now they rove and stare,
Awhile they make their chains and swear,
And then lie down in quiet.