Skip to content
ARCHIVE
Archive notice. This is a historical page from the ItalianOpera archive (website online since 1995). Some formatting and links may reflect the original legacy structure.

TESTO DEL LIED

"If ever two were one, then surely we"
di Anne (Dudley) Bradstreet (1612?-1672)

If ever two were one, then surely we.
If ever man were loved by wife, then thee;
If ever wife was happy in a man,
Compare with me, ye women, if you can.
I prize thy love more than whole mines of gold
Or all the riches that the East doth hold.
My love is such that rivers cannot quench,
Nor ought but love from thee, give recompense.
Thy love is such I can no way repay,
The heavens reward thee manifold, I pray.
Then while we live, in love let's so persevere
That when we live no more, we may live ever.