RPO -- Thomas Campion : When Thou Must Home to Shades of Underground

Thomas Campion (1567-1620)

When Thou Must Home to Shades of Underground

1When thou must home to shades of underground,

2And there arriv'd, a new admired guest,

3The beauteous spirits do engirt thee round,

4White Iope, blithe Helen, and the rest,

5To hear the stories of thy finish'd love

6From that smooth tongue whose music hell can move;

7Then wilt thou speak of banqueting delights,

8Of masques and revels which sweet youth did make,

9Of tourneys and great challenges of knights,

10And all these triumphs for thy beauty's sake:

11When thou hast told these honours done to thee,

12Then tell, O tell, how thou didst murder me.

Notes

1] Campion wrote all the lyrics and half of the musical settings to be published in A Book of Airs, 1601.

4] Iope: one of the wives of Theseus.
Helen: Helen of Troy.

Online text copyright © 2009, Ian Lancashire (the Department of English) and the University of Toronto.
Published by the Web Development Group, Information Technology Services, University of Toronto Libraries.

Original text: Thomas Morley, The first booke of ayres. Or little short songs, to sing and play to the lute, with the base viole ([H. Ballard for] W. Barley, the assign of T. Morley, 1600). STC 18115.5.
First publication date: 1601
RPO poem editor: F. D. Hoeniger
RP edition: 3RP 1.152.
Recent editing: 2:2001/12/6

Rhyme: ababcc

Other poems by Thomas Campion