"In darkness let me dwell" is a song ascribed to the lutenist and composer
John Dowland
John Dowland (c. 1563 – buried 20 February 1626) was an English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep", " Come again", "Flow my tears", " I saw my Lady weepe", ...
. Published in 1610,
late in Dowland's career, the song shows the influence of Italian music of the early
baroque. It was published as song no. 10 in ', a 1610 anthology of songs for lute and voice from England, France, Italy, and Spain compiled by
Robert Dowland
Robert Dowland (c. 15911641) was an English lutenist and composer. He was the son of the lutenist and composer John Dowland, who wrote almost 90 lute songs and other pieces written for the lute. Robert Dowland wrote only a few known compositions, ...
, John's son.
"In darkness let me dwell" has been recorded by many artists, notably by on the 2006 album ''
Songs from the Labyrinth'' by
Sting with
Edin Karamazov.
The text for Dowland's setting utilizes the first stanza of an anonymous poem included in the 1606 song collection ''Funeral Teares'' by
John Coprario. Dowland's setting eventually became more famous than the Coprario setting.
Text
In darkness let me dwell; the ground shall sorrow be,
The roof despair, to bar all cheerful light from me;
The walls of marble black, that moist'ned still shall weep;
My music, hellish jarring sounds, to banish friendly sleep.
Thus, wedded to my woes, and bedded in my tomb,
O let me living die, till death doth come, till death doth come.
Second stanza included in the Coprario 1606 setting:
My dainties grief shall be, and tears my poisoned wine,
My sighs the air through which my panting heart shall pine,
My robes my mind shall suit exceeding blackest night,
My study shall be tragic thoughts sad fancy to delight,
Pale ghosts and frightful shades shall my acquaintance be:
O thus, my hapless joy, I haste to thee.[''English Madrigal Verse, 1588–1632'', ed. Edmund Horace Fellowes, p. 384]
References
External links
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Compositions by John Dowland
Lute songs
1610s compositions
1610 works