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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

"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may"
di Robert Herrick (1591-1674)

Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying:
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.
The glorious lamp of heaven, the Sun,
The higher he's a-getting
The sooner will his race be run,
And nearer he's to setting.
That age is best which is the first,
When youth and blood are warmer;
But being spent, the worse, and worst
Times, still succeed the former.

Then be not coy, but use your time;
And while ye may, go marry:
For having lost but once your prime,
You may forever tarry.