Come Again (Dowland)
Encyclopedia
Come Again, sweet love doth now invite is a song by John Dowland
. The lyrics are anonymous. Dowland's music can be performed by soloist and lute
or by a small vocal group (typically SATB
).
The song is bitter-sweet, typical of Dowland who cultivated a melancholy style.
It was published in his "First Booke of Songes or Ayres" (1597).
gives a clear uncluttered performance with Christopher Wilson (from the 2005 CD "Dowland: Flow My Teares") that can be heard on YouTube. Sting recorded the song with lutenist Edin Karamazov
for the album Songs from the Labyrinth
(performed in an episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
). The song has also been recorded with Celtic Harper Jay Michaels
and Vocalist Abby Michaels, who are the Celtic/Folk/Renaissance duo The Harper and The Minstrel. The song is on their 2008 album Beloved Mine. In 1999, the Canadian singer/songwriter Garnet Rogers
recorded the song on his album Sparrow's Wing.
novel Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
John Dowland
John Dowland was an English Renaissance composer, singer, and lutenist. He is best known today for his melancholy songs such as "Come, heavy sleep" , "Come again", "Flow my tears", "I saw my Lady weepe" and "In darkness let me dwell", but his instrumental music has undergone a major revival, and has...
. The lyrics are anonymous. Dowland's music can be performed by soloist and lute
Lute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
or by a small vocal group (typically SATB
SATB
In music, SATB is an initialism for soprano, alto, tenor, bass, defining the voices required by a chorus or choir to perform a particular musical work...
).
The song is bitter-sweet, typical of Dowland who cultivated a melancholy style.
It was published in his "First Booke of Songes or Ayres" (1597).
Lyrics
Come again! sweet love doth now invite
Thy graces that refrain
To do me due delight,
To see, to hear, to touch, to kiss, to die,
With thee again in sweetest sympathy.
Come again! that I may cease to mourn
Through thy unkind disdain;
For now left and forlorn
I sit, I sigh, I weep, I faint, I die
In deadly pain and endless misery.
All the day the sun that lends me shine
By frowns do cause me pine
And feeds me with delay;
Her smiles, my springs that makes my joy to grow,
Her frowns the Winters of my woe.
All the night my sleeps are full of dreams,
My eyes are full of streams.
My heart takes no delight
To see the fruits and joys that some do find
And mark the storms are me assign'd.
Out alas, my faith is ever true,
Yet will she never rue
Nor yield me any grace;
Her eyes of fire, her heart of flint is made,
Whom tears nor truth may once invade.
Gentle Love, draw forth thy wounding dart,
Thou canst not pierce her heart;
For I, that do approve
By sighs and tears more hot than are thy shafts
Did tempt while she for triumph laughs.
Recent Performances
The Scottish tenor Paul AgnewPaul Agnew
Paul Agnew is a Scottish operatic tenor.Agnew read music as a Choral Scholar at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became associated with the Consort of Musicke, the Tallis Scholars, the Sixteen and the Gothic Voices, before embarking on a solo career in the early 1990s.Closely associated with William...
gives a clear uncluttered performance with Christopher Wilson (from the 2005 CD "Dowland: Flow My Teares") that can be heard on YouTube. Sting recorded the song with lutenist Edin Karamazov
Edin Karamazov
Edin Karamazov is a renowned Bosnian musician-lutenist . He studied lute with Hopkinson Smith at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis....
for the album Songs from the Labyrinth
Songs from the Labyrinth
Songs from the Labyrinth is a 2006 album of recordings of the music of John Dowland by Sting and Bosnian lutenist Edin Karamazov. It entered the UK Official Albums Chart at #24 and reached #25 on the Billboard 200, strong charting peaks for a classical record on the pop album charts...
(performed in an episode of Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip
Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip was an American dramedy television series created and written by Aaron Sorkin. It ran for 22 episodes.The series takes place behind the scenes of a live sketch comedy show on the fictional television network NBS , whose format is similar to that of NBC's...
). The song has also been recorded with Celtic Harper Jay Michaels
Jay Michaels
Jay "Mad Dog" Michaels is a Canadian broadcaster who co-hosts The Breakfast Show with Mad Dog and Billie on Virgin Radio 999 in Toronto....
and Vocalist Abby Michaels, who are the Celtic/Folk/Renaissance duo The Harper and The Minstrel. The song is on their 2008 album Beloved Mine. In 1999, the Canadian singer/songwriter Garnet Rogers
Garnet Rogers
Garnet Rogers is a Canadian folk musician, singer, songwriter and composer. He began his professional career working with his brother, folk musician Stan Rogers, and arranging Stan's music.-Career:...
recorded the song on his album Sparrow's Wing.
In Other Media
Lines 8-10 are quoted in the Philip K. DickPhilip K. Dick
Philip Kindred Dick was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist whose published work is almost entirely in the science fiction genre. Dick explored sociological, political and metaphysical themes in novels dominated by monopolistic corporations, authoritarian governments and altered...
novel Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said
Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said
Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said is a 1974 science fiction novel by Philip K. Dick about a genetically enhanced pop singer and television star who loses his identity overnight. The story is set in a futuristic dystopia, where America has become a police state after a Second Civil War. The novel...