Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes
COMPOSER’S NOTE
In 2011, I was commissioned by Decca Records to produce new orchestral arrangements of several British folk songs for soprano Laura Wright and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for the Number One selling album, The Last Rose. Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes is the second work in the collection and is based on the beautiful poem by Ben Jonson (1572-1637).
DURATION
4 minutes
SOLOIST
Soprano
INSTRUMENTATION
Strings OR Piano
YEAR OF COMPOSITION
2011
PUBLISHER
Novello
SHEET MUSIC
Available from
JW Pepper
Music Room
Music Shop Europe
Drink to me only with thine eyes,
And I will pledge with mine;
Or leave a kiss but in the cup,
And I’ll not look for wine.
The thirst that from the soul doth rise
Doth ask a drink divine;
But might I of Jove’s nectar sup,
I would not change for thine.
I sent thee late a rosy wreath,
Not so much honouring thee
As giving it a hope, that there
It could not withered be.
But thou thereon didst only breathe,
And sent’st it back to me;
Since when it grows, and smells, I swear,
Not of itself, but thee.
Words: Ben Jonson (1572 – 1637)
